Are SC schools really that bad? (Columbia, Charleston: transfer, law school, taxes)

[scalli40]

What is the quickest way from Park West area in Mount Pleasant to Berkeley High School at 504 West Main Street in Moncks Corner. I am moving soon and need the quickest way to work. Please reply. Thank you.
scalli40

[maha2007]

Hello!

We live in wilmington,nc. we are planning to move to a place with good weather, reasonable public schools, and reasonable living. we are considering charleston,sc, penobroke pines Fl, and coral greens,Fl. job is not a concern at this point. we have a 3 1/2 year old son and a 9 months old daughter. we want to love on a eat coast, northeast is cold so can not consider that. we also had savannh,Ga in mind.Mount Pleasent ,Sc were pretty appealing, beacuse it has good schools, but housing was high. in wilmington high bracket taz and low bracket tax is the same, so Florida was apealing becauese there is no income tax. south carolina have 2.50% low bracket income tax. Georgia has 1%. but we also want to consider a place with good public schools beacuse our son will bee 5 in may2008. moving takes time, require lots of research too. Right now our son is going in a private Pre-K, its $550 PER MONTH. but we can not afford private schooing in the near future. wlmington has some good public schoolls . but like housing and tax these are the factors we are considering now. we have lived here or 6 years but there was a job then, now job is not a issue, so don't see a point in staying here.

we will really appriciate if someone can give any advise on that!
Thank you!

Originally Posted by carolinajack

thanks Dawne, I wonder if people have read Jonathan Kozol's books, like Savage Inequalities??? He studies the United States schools and esp the South Bronx of New york city. The South Bronx, South Boston and DC and Philadelphia schools are the worst in the nation, I am not sure where the people came up with SC.

Sure some rural areas and urban areas are bad schools, but no more so than urban areas of LA, Denver, Detroit, Chicago or Boston. I think most people saying this dont read newspapers anymore or they get it from a rumour mill.

compared to where, are the schools in SC poor? Urban and rural areas of the North?? well that is certainly not true, but comparing a poor area of SC with a wealthy NJ or New York Suburb is not a fair comparison. Mt Pleasant SC has some good public schools as does Richland County SC-my mother taught in them for 15 years.

50% of all public school teachers in the US send their own kids to private schools, so the state of public schools in america compared to other nations is abysmal, but we have pockets of great schools--I believe! I personally wouldnt send my kids to the public schools because the values they lack and the agenda they promote, but for education solely, there are some good school districts. Blame the unions

[SClady]

My daughter is a teacher here in Greenwood. She has taught in grade, middle, high and the college here. We have 3 new schools. Two of my grandchildren go to public schools and two to private schools. Each thinks their school is best. Dawne the man you referred to about Oct. Sky still lives in Huntsville Al and has a house next door to my daughter in St.Johns VI. I saw him on Fox news last night. Nice man. We have 2 high schools, 4 middle schools and many grades schools.

[mackmeeks]

The York County schools have a good reputation, especially those in Fort Mill. Charlotte is a zoo and lots of people home school or use private schools. York County is growing and has a need for new teachers. The teachers I know are pleased with the conditions and how they are treated. Springs Industries used to underwrite the schools with stipends. That helped with pay and equipment.

[skyegirl]

The public schools are struggling, I think everyone can agree on that. I personally feel that not enough parents are assuming responsibility for their child's education, and expect the teachers to do it all, which is not possible with 24 kids to a class (if not more) all at different learning levels. My daughter is 14, and here in Ohio has yet to be been taught state capitals! Can you imagine? I remember learning not only state capitals but European capitals back in the 4th grade, how is this not relevant information today? Needless to say, we have taken it upon ourselves to teach this and more at home to her and my other 2 children. This "no child left behind" is a joke, only the schools that perform get the money, and the one that don't get denied money that is needed (usually the poor school districts). Sorry to rant on so long....

[Jimbob]

Originally Posted by skyegirl

The public schools are struggling, I think everyone can agree on that. I personally feel that not enough parents are assuming responsibility for their child's education, and expect the teachers to do it all, which is not possible with 24 kids to a class (if not more) all at different learning levels. This "no child left behind" is a joke, only the schools that perform get the money, and the one that don't get denied money that is needed (usually the poor school districts).

If memory serves, we had no less than 28 kids in our elementary thru high school classes and up to several hundred in college, ergo, you can pretty much dismiss class size as part of the problem. School problems are a result, in no particular order: lack of parental involvement, lack of personal responsibility, education "reforms", teaching to the test, lack of administrative resolve re: disciplinary matters, and "self-esteem" issues. Bush's "no child left behind" could have had a positive impact had he chose to fund it.

[ihatefonddulac]

We lived in Spartanburg, SC, for two years coming from MN. We had heard schools weren't good, too, and with 4 kids of varying ages, we were concerned, however, we were really impressed. We lived in Spartanburg School District 6, with our oldest going to Byrnes High which was a very good school, our 11 year old going to Berry Shoals Intermediate which honestly, wasn't that great; my daughter said she was doing schoolwork that she had done already 2 years before, my 8 year old going to Wellford Elementary which we were also pleased with and the youngest in preschool. We moved back to the Midwest after the two years, and all of the kids were actually ahead of the class except for my 11-year-old; she had to do a little catching up, but after living in four different places, SC funds their schools the best. MN has constant budget cuts, but SC funds their schools with the lottery and they had state-of-the-art everything, new buildings, quality teachers.

[Darcysells4u]

check out these web sites for school info

http://ed.sc.gov/
http://www.ccsdschools.com/

[opelske]

It is impossible to log on to this site and post -- error messages keep popping up. Please can someone give me contact email address of a Citi-Data administrator so this problem can be solved.

[ljkbsb]

Originally Posted by carolinajack

i apologize steve, you have a right to like the public school as i have a right to despise it.

my point wasnt that but that there is good and bad in all state schools and SC schools are no different, some good some not so good and some bad

I moved from the Midwest and the public schools in Orangeburg are bad, which I find abysmal. However, I feel that the local citizens have decided that it is preferable (and easier) to send their children to private school rather than fix the problem. This results in lack of funds for the public schools and a poorer education for those children. From an altruistic standpoint, I find this appalling and in the long run, it affects the whole community. If I owned a business, I would want my employees to be as well educated as possible.