2 weeks Ago
In 1993, a lawsuit was filed against the state by several school districts in South Carolina led by the Abbeville County School District. The plaintiff school districts were mostly minority and lower-income, and the S.C.
Supreme Court ruled in their favor, writing that that our constitution “requires the General Assembly to provide the opportunity for each child to receive a minimally adequate education.” In 2005, a 58-minute documentary provided shocking and dismal footage of the poor state of schools along the I-95 corridor. The “Corridor of Shame: The Neglect of South Carolina’s Rural Schools” showed the nation how far we had fallen as a state in providing basic infrastructure and education services to poor, rural communities.
To its credit, the General Assembly convened a task force, made recommendations and provided more funding, including for capital improvement projects, resulting in the closure of the legal case in 2017. Despite progress being made, academic assessment data and high school graduation rates reveal that the I-95 corridor is far from a successful turnaround. The Charter Institute at Erskine’s Success Agenda will address these regional challenges by creating and expanding public charter schools, improving math scores and developing innovative funding mechanisms for school facilities.
First, the institute is offering up to $1 million, in 10 separate $100,000 investments, to approved organizations opening or expanding quality public charter schools in the Corridor of Shame. These investments are tied to required academic benchmarks that will ensure these new schools are producing academic excellence and that the Corridor of Shame becomes the Corridor of Success. Second, the institute is investing $500,000 to conduct groundbreaking research on domestic math instruction and studies of global educators in countries already achieving math success.
A Global Math Summit hosted by the institute will disseminate these findings to South Carolina’s educational leaders, who will collaborate with their teachers to develop classroom solutions. The institute will offer annual performance bonuses up to $5,000 to institute teachers who help their students achieve objective growth targets. Third, charter schools face unique challenges — especially in rural areas — for land and facilities funding.
While such acquisitions are easier for traditional schools to obtain through local taxation, charter schools do not have access to such funds. To address this inequity, the institute is developing funding and capitalization programs that will serve as the connector between business leaders, philanthropic donors and financial supporters who are aligned with the institute’s vision. The initial investment for this part of the agenda is $250,000 as a foundation is laid for years of future charter school growth in the state.
Improving areas of consistent need requires new ways of thinking and acting beyond traditional paradigms. The Charter Institute at Erskine will always seek to challenge the status quo where that's needed in order to bring human flourishing to children. Our investment of $1.
75 million is a down payment on that commitment that will transform educational outcomes, equip students with the skills they need and prepare our state’s next generation of leaders for successful careers and lives. Cameron Runyan is the CEO and superintendent of the Charter Institute at Erskine..
