South Carolina

In good homes across the nation parents and children participate in something ordinary and taken for granted - communication.

Even before birth, parents are talking to their child. The gentle exchange of words, meanings, little stories, songs are a part of the lives of those people who work with ideas and language, but that's not always the case.

One of the problems in educating the poor and the children of some very young parents is a matter of communication. The ability and desire to talk to children seems to be limited. Ideas are limited leaving the exchange of ideas among parents and children within homes a rarity.

Most of the poor we see have little or no reference points. If it doesn't come from TV, it doesn't exist, and because TV requires no response, children learn a few things, but those whose parents let TV do most of the household talking, can't begin to communicate with any substance.
I've heard a lot of parents say, "I don't know what to say to him (a child). I feel dumb." If a parent spent most of his or her life with the TV as the only educator, of course he or she will gravitate towards this noisy resource just like mom and dad. He or she simply won't know how to communicate with the person closest to him.

In these cases, the difficulty comes from too little vocabulary, too little experience, and a lack of knowing how to find the words to express needs, cares, love, and thoughts. This misery is handed down to the child.

Communication is a basic part of development, and what educators are discovering is that very young children, especially the poor, aren't learning how. Here's an article about the need for early childhood among poor children.

The idea the the State would ask the Church for help is a remarkable communication in itself.

State May Seek Churches' Help

Education Chief looks to private kindergartens to help meet judge's order to provide 'minimally adequate' schooling

Published: Monday, January 2, 2006
By Ron Barnett and Ashley FletcherSTAFF WRITERSmailto:WRITERSrbarnett@greenvillenews.com

Faith-based kindergartens may be asked to become partners with the state in helping to provide the level of early childhood education a circuit judge ordered in a landmark ruling last week, the state superintendent of education said.

Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum said she is considering several options to fulfill Judge Thomas W. Cooper Jr.'s ruling in a lawsuit filed against the state by South Carolina's poorest school districts, including a public-private kindergarten partnership that could cost up to $100 million.
Although the ruling technically applies only to the eight plaintiff districts in the case, Tenenbaum said she believes it must be interpreted broadly.

"In a matter of days, the other districts, if they're not funded, could bring a similar case demanding the same rights," she said.

The judge didn't give specifics as to what it would take to satisfy his order, leaving that in the hands of the Education Department and the General Assembly.

At a minimum, the state will have to expand kindergarten for 4-year-olds to serve all children living in poverty, Tenenbaum said.

The state has been providing kindergarten for children that age for 21 years and now enrolls 17,655, she said. But South Carolina has more than 56,000 children that age -- 56 percent of whom are eligible for Medicaid, she said.

That means more than 13,000 at-risk 4-year-olds aren't in kindergarten, she said.
The judge, after months of testimony in a case that stretches back more than a decade, found the state wasn't providing a "minimally adequate" education to all children because of failure to spend enough on early childhood education.

He didn't agree with the plaintiff districts, though, that the condition of their facilities failed to meet constitutional requirements for a basic education.

South Carolina now spends $52 million for 4K from state, federal and local sources, Tenenbaum said. She originally proposed adding another $100 million next year to pay for kindergarten for all 4-year-olds in the state on a half-day basis.

She scaled her request back to $45 million to expand 4K to full-day only for at-risk students.
Now, she is leaning toward going back to her original figure of up to $100 million to make the program available full day to all at-risk 4-year-olds.

The Department of Education is already talking with faith-based kindergarten programs about the possibility of contracting with them to open up slots for at-risk children, Tenenbaum said.
Private kindergartens likely will be needed to meet the judge's mandate because public schools don't have the facilities to expand their 4K programs enough, she said.

One version of her proposal calls for sending public schoolteachers to private kindergartens, she said.

South Carolina now has more than 23,000 certified early childhood teachers, but only 11,000 are teaching the youngest children, Tenenbaum said.

Lawmakers have suggested raising the cigarette tax to pay for expanding early childhood education, she said. The state also expects to have more than $400 million in new revenue without raising taxes, she said.

"There are funds available if the General Assembly decides this is how to fund it," she said.
The ruling also indicates a need to improve educational opportunities through third grade, she said. That could include paying for tutors or expanding year-round school programs in those grades, she said.

She hopes to come up with a final plan within the next week to present to the Legislature when it reconvenes month.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell said he has been working on two pieces of legislation that he thinks dovetail nicely with the judge's order.

One would expand 4-year-old kindergarten, he said. The other would create a year-round fourth-grade program for students who fail the Palmetto Achivement Challenge Test in third grade. Neither bill has been filed; each is a "work in progress," said Harrell, who didn't elaborate on how they'd work.

Such legislation could have a statewide reach, the Charleston Republican said, but after the judge's order, it must emphasize needs in the poorest districts.

"You would make sure that you provided the program for the children the judge is talking about," he said. "But it's the kind of thing that probably would be worthwhile for most children around the state.

"I think you'll certainly see a conversation about making sure we do something for poor children. But I think that conversation will evolve into more of a statewide discussion."

John Tindal, superintendent of Clarendon County School District 2, one of the plaintiff districts, said more money for early childhood education is a good start toward a solution. But any legislation shouldn't send dollars equally to all districts, he said.

Unless money goes to poor districts, he said, "the impact will be as it is now, and these districts will not have an opportunity to close the achievement gap or to get caught up."

Harrell said additional kindergarten programs in poor districts might not cost more money.
"One of the things the judge said ... is that in the plaintiff school districts, we spend a lot of money on older children, but that that money comes too late," Harrell said.

"I believe that to mean he's suggesting we take some of that money we spend on older children and redirect it to younger children. And I expect you'll see a discussion about that, too."
Gov. Mark Sanford has urged both sides not to appeal the judge's ruling.

"We've said from day one that the best way to make a difference in children's education is to make a difference early, and this ruling clearly says that the state isn't doing enough on that front in many cases," he said in a statement released by his office.

"Rather than appealing this ruling, we should focus our energies as a state on improving the quality of education for the students that need it most.

"I continue to believe that starts with better targeting dollars like teacher incentives to the critical areas and subjects, and preserving and expanding parental choice in early childhood education through programs like First Steps.

"Whether it means better targeting educational resources that are already in the system or the possibility of additional funding, I am committed to working with legislators on both sides of the aisle in the coming session to make sure every child in this state has ample opportunity to learn and compete in the 21st century."

The school districts' lawyers told The Associated Press they see no need to appeal unless the state does. The state's lawyer, Bobby Stepp, said he must consult with his clients, the AP said. The state has 30 days to decide.