Opinion: S.C. Private School Vouchers Plan Fails Facts Test

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

This week’s plan by the South Carolina Senate to provide private school vouchers which would take funds away from public schools is short-sighted and ignores research which suggests such moves in other states have failed students on every level.

The argument by those who favor the vouchers maintain allowing parents to choose their child’s school, choosing what they see as the best fit, will improve education. This includes providing an option for those living in an area with underperforming schools.

They also claim that the state’s education would see overall improvement in a “free market” where public schools are forced to compete with private schools.

Proponents of public-school vouchers ignore several important facts.

First, their argument for vouchers doesn’t hold up to research in other states which have implemented such vouchers.  

Voucher program evaluations in Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., all show that students attending participating private schools perform significantly worse than their peers in public schools—especially in math.  A recent, rigorous evaluation of the Washington, D.C., “Opportunity Scholarship Program” from the U.S. Department of Education reaffirms these findings, reporting that D.C. students attending voucher schools performed significantly worse than they would have/did in their original public school.

Another study in Wisconsin’s evaluation tracked more than 2,500 voucher kids alongside 2,500 carefully matched public school kids. After five years, it found very little difference on test scores between the two groups. 

Clearly, the research case for vouchers doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, while the research case against them has been flashing warning lights for almost a decade.

The rhetoric in our state which has maintained that vouchers are mostly intended for students in poor areas of South Carolina also rings hollow. 

The original South Carolina plan called for offering the vouchers only to children who qualify for Medicaid in South Carolina, which means they are part of a family making less than $20,000 annually. The newly revised plan of this week starts with this group, then eventually expands to cover “middle class” families of four making up to $120,000. (The average household income in S.C. for 2022 was just under $55,000).

And while statistics suggest that test scores in places that are using public school funds for private school vouchers show no improvement, they do not tell the complete story. 

The biggest losers in school choice private school vouchers are disabled children. They don’t get a choice. Private schools do not have to provide special education, so almost none do. They decline to take on the expensive burden of educating children with disabilities because it is not required by law.

One study in Philadelphia schools found that students with behaviors and increased needs due to disabilities were often “coached” back to their home district. 

There’s also a moral case to be made against voucher programs, which promise low-income families’ solutions to academic inequality, but what they deliver is often little more than religious indoctrination to go alongside inferior academic outcomes. Will the General Assembly welcome the teaching of religion in the state’s Islamic schools and those others which are not part of a Christian tradition? 

At a very basic level, private school vouchers don’t do what education policies are supposed to: promote positive educational results. Study after study has shown that students who use vouchers to attend private school don’t perform any better than their public-school peers, with some studies finding that academic outcomes worsen for voucher students.

One national consultant on private/charter schools wrote:

“It has been my experience as an advocate that privates and charters have zero interest in educating difficult-to-educate children. Whether it be a disability, a broken home, or something completely out of the child’s control, they just aren’t interested.”

And then there is the question of accountability. Public school systems also have substantial fixed costs—including facilities and staff contracts—that cannot be reduced when students from different classrooms, grades, and school buildings exit to use vouchers. Fraud and waste are common in voucher programs, and there is scant fiscal accountability for private schools or voucher-granting organizations

While it does not seem to yet be a part of the South Carolina voucher proposal, many states require the signing away of a Free and Appropriate Education, an educational entitlement of all students in the United States who are identified as having a disability, guaranteed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, rights to those who accept vouchers. 

To claim that vouchers save money is only persuasive if you don’t have all the facts. The idea that vouchers simply shift to private schools the funds that would have been used on public education is a myth. Voucher programs often subsidize private education for families that can already afford it, and whose children would never have attended public schools.

Vouchers don’t save money for the government, either. A recent study published by the National Education Policy Center concluded that implementing universal vouchers would increase the total cost to the public by 11 to 33 percent, or up to $203 billion per year. Since private schools can discriminate in enrollment and services, voucher programs can concentrate in public schools those students who require increased resources to access equitable educational opportunities, such as students with disabilities and those learning English.

South Carolina should focus efforts and funding no research-based educational policies that have a better track record of academic achievement. This path would include: Inter-district enrollment, studying and work to replicate high-performing charter schools; expanding access to high-quality pre-K programs, and considering the equitable distribution of teachers across the state.

The S.C. Senate’s proposal is a shallow and simplistic solution to a complex problem, one which will not solve the challenges they seek to address, particularly when the evidence is just too weak to justify the use of public money to fund private tuition.

Protecting Teaching Black History Critical for Public Schools

By Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” –Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today, we kick off another Black History Month, a time intended to remind us of men and women who changed the world and their sacrifices, but who are at the same time in peril of being lost to history. 

The roots of this month began when historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History designated the second week of February to be “Negro History Week” in the United States. Woodson, born in 1875 in Virginia earned his graduate degrees at the University of Chicago and was the second African American to obtain a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University, and is widely recognized as one of the first scholars to study African-American history. 

Woodson chose the second week in February because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln on Feb. 12, and Frederick Douglass on Feb. 14, both of which dates black communities had celebrated together since the late 19th century. 

Initially, it was meant to encourage the coordinated teaching of the history of American blacks in the nation’s public schools.

That goal remains mostly unrealized in public schools, many of which, have become political equity chips for those who would not only oppose teaching the history of black citizens in America, but are passing laws to limit what can be taught in regards to racial history in this general. 

They argue that reminders of past atrocities create racial tension. But whitewashing history, leaving a generation of students ignorant to such history, is far more destructive in the long haul. And added to that mix, allowing the inclusion of black men and women who helped shape this nation in public school history books is lost. 

Many of these history making men and women are still among us.

I had a few conversations with John M. Perkins, the civil rights activist, author and international speaker on issues of reconciliation, leadership, and community development a number of years ago about the issue. Perkins grew up in Mississippi in the 1930s and 40s, before moving to California after being warned he was in danger following the fatal shooting of his brother by a police officer.  

He returned to Mississippi in 1960, where he led economic boycotts against white-owned businesses, leading to his arrest and torture by white officers in jail. The experience led Perkins to find solutions for racial division and reconciliation, and effort that is still going strong after half a century.  

Now 92, Perkins, in his ministry has worked with a myriad of groups on reconciliation and forgiveness, including former KKK Grand Dragons. He still maintains that “them” is the “ugliest four-letter word in the English vocabulary.” 

He writes:

“It's a word that separates and divides. It's important that we know their names. It's really hard to dislike someone you pray for regularly. One of the most important things we can do to move the cause of reconciliation forward is to pray for the brothers and sisters who we have been separate from.” 

Perkins also believes that education is directly related to quality of life in America.

And that education cannot leave out painful periods of history, and as we remember this month especially, the treatment of black Americans since our nation’s beginnings.

An education that omits painful points in history, is not an education, it’s and indoctrination.

Even the parts of the Bible which address history do not leave out the most sordid actions and events, often led by those designated as being those chosen by God.

So why attempt to sanitize American history to appease a minority of uninformed elected officials who pander to the loudest, mostly white voices? 

The history of slavery and the legacy of lynchings (more than four thousand in the South between 1877 and 1950) need to be included in public school history curriculums, alongside the attempts to repair the damage - even those that largely failed at the time - such as the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution, Plessy v. Ferguson and later Brown v. Board of Education (which found greater success in time), all important milestones that should be familiar to any educated person.  

And it’s not just distant history. 

Almost every day I come in contact with men and women in Anderson who not only remember but experienced profound racial discrimination here in our home county. Whites-Only water fountains were still in place downtown until at least 1970, and schools here were still largely separate by race more than a decade after the passage of Brown v. Board of Education decision.

They marveled at watching the progress of not only Dr. King, Malcolm X and other national civil rights leaders, who, though jailed, beaten, vilified, and the constant target of death threats, never gave up. Claudette Colvin, who set the stage for Rosa Parks, brought encouragement that change is possible.  

The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the subsequent Voting Rights Act and Fair Housing Act also helped move the needle a little, but, as history teaches those who listen, much is left to accomplish.

Ask your Black neighbors who remember, or whose parents remember growing up in the segregated South why those days should not be forgotten. 

My friend Hosea Williams, who Dr. King called “my wildman” for Williams’ skills as a protestor and organizer, often said the path to equality must be built “rock by rock.” More than a few rocks, bottles and other objects were tossed at (and connected with) Williams as he marched for equal rights, economic justice and compassion, and he used those rocks to build a foundation. Also, between 1970-1990 Williams fed thousands of low-income folks in Atlanta as part of his vision. 

But his idea that the path forward must be built rock by rock is best built on the foundation put down by black men and women who have and continue to make lasting contributions to society, and the fierce challenges and opposition they encounter.

Black History Month shines the light of liberty on the America we aspire to, as well as where we have failed to become who we wish to be as a nation. Remembering our past, especially in our public-school textbooks, does not inspire hate or division. Instead, it is a lesson for all in how we can learn from our mistakes and move toward a more perfect union, and not just in the month of February.

Piedmont Natural Gas Share the Warmth Program Needs Your Help

By Hank McCullough/Piedmont Natural Gas

As a community relations manager for Piedmont Natural Gas, the residents of the towns and cities that Piedmont serves are never far from my thoughts. That includes thinking about how we can aid and protect the most vulnerable in our communities. For many of us, the holiday season is in full swing, but it’s also a time when many of our friends and neighbors may be struggling financially, even if we don’t realize it.

One way we can help lift those people up is through Piedmont’s Share the Warmth program. For no more than $12 a year, Piedmont customers can make a difference in the lives of our neighbors in need. Once enrolled in Share the Warmth, your monthly natural gas bill is rounded up to the next dollar, and 100% of that difference is donated to approved local assistance agencies to help those in your community who are having difficulty paying their energy bills. 

Recipients do not need to be Piedmont customers or even use natural gas to receive Share the Warmth funds; the program truly is about helping those in our community who may need aid, regardless of the energy source used in their homes.

Since 2003, Piedmont and round-up customers have contributed more than $4.7 million to the Share the Warmth fund. That’s 4.7 million ways to help someone less fortunate sleep easier in a warm house with paid energy bills during the winter season and year-round.

Piedmont also accepts direct donations from non-customers who want to help or customers who’d like to contribute more than their round-up amount. More information on the program and how to enroll or contribute is available at piedmontng.com/sharethewarmth.

As you may be reflecting on your blessings and thinking of ways to share the giving spirit with your friends and loved ones this holiday season, please consider rounding up to Share the Warmth. Your small change can make a big difference to someone fighting to make ends meet and truly give them something to be thankful for.

Hank McCullough is Community Relations Manager for Piedmont Natural Gas.

Holiday Comment: Gift of Gratitude Brings Healing, Wonder

By Greg Wilson

Editor/Publisher, The Anderson Obsever

With 39 days left in 2022, we take time to celebrate Thanksgiving, that uniquely American holiday.

The Observer’s annual Gratitude Project offers some of your friends or neighbors talking about the transformative nature of gratitude. Some of the videos are available here.

And some audio musings on gratitude and Thanksgiving from 2015 are here. 

Thanksgiving is a holiday that has been marked, in various forms, on this continent since the late 1500s. 

Abraham Lincoln finally made Thanksgiving an official holiday, to be celebrated on the third Thursday of November, while in the middle of the Civil War in 1863.

His proclamation both reflected the long-observed intent of those who had gone before him as he wrote the holiday would be a time to: "Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union." 

The noble purpose of Thanksgiving Day being set aside to praise God for his provision and express our gratefulness for his "deliverances and blessings" still hold a place for many of as we gather with family and friends, show what is best about us by serving those who lack even the most basic of needs.

On Monday, AIM distributed a full Thanksgiving dinner to more than 700 families. AIM works 365 days a year to serve those in our community who might need a little help, and I am grateful for their decades of work.

Hope Ministries of the Upstate has been a safe, warm place for those in our community without a place to sleep at night and receive a hot breakfast in the morning. The group is working with other local non-profits to provide the Christmas gift of a backpack filled with essentials for those who spend most of their time on the streets. Find out more here.

The Salvation of Army of Anderson, which provides shelter and other assistance all year has started their Red Kettle holiday program which helps fund their work.

The more than 600 shut-ins in the county depend on Meals on Wheels of Anderson throughout the year for a daily hot meal delivered to their homes.

Others, including Clean Start, the Good Neighbor Cupboard, the Cancer Association of Anderson and countless churches in our community are turning away from the "national perverseness" of self-interest, express gratitude through kindness and generosity. 

Many families will gather around their tables Thursday, some will offer up a list of things for which they are grateful today. 

Meanwhile, so many in far-off lands will spend today day standing in long lines for rice or beans or a jug of clean water, as most of us here will eat from tables so full of food they can barely contain the weight.

The majority of us, though we may not have all the things we think we want, have more than we need, and hopefully are sharing some of our abundance with those who do not. 

But even though in some ways Thanksgiving Day still holds true the traditions, such as gratitude and demonstrations of such thankfulness through helping our neighbors, there are still some retail establishments open for business on Thanksgiving Day.

Over the past decade, a rising tide of voices has succeeded in convincing many of the largest retailers to shut down on Thanksgiving Day. 

Most of the largest retailers, including Target and Walmart, have responded to the cry of retail workers asking for a respite for the upcoming rush by closing and allowing workers to spend the day with family and friends.

This is both welcome and laudable, and long overdue.

But some, including CVS, Walgreens, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Starbucks and Walgreens, have ignored the holiday and will open with business as usual Thanksgiving Day.

Their workers are being asked to clock in to miss the holiday while allowing others to leave their own family and friends to go shopping.

Americans who work retail, and already face growing pressure of long hours and generally often below-average wages, are now being asked to forfeit one of their rare holidays, the day set aside for family and gratitude.

One way to help end this practice is to refuse to shop on Thanksgiving Day. If these stores see zero traffic, they most likely will rethink their Scrooge-like practice.

Let’s send the message that Thanksgiving is not just another day to feed the cash register, and carry out the spirit with patience and good will leading into the holiday shopping rush. 

On Friday, while still drowsy from turkey and gravy, we face the next holiday challenge of maintaining a grateful heart towards those working in the world so full of bright, shiny objects vying for our attention and our wallet.

Be patience and kind. Those who have worked retail in the holidays will testify the level of stress already in place by the hordes of shoppers, is made more difficult by short-tempered, angry folks made their days much more difficult.

And remember why you are giving gifts to celebrate the Christmas season. The most common reason for giving a holiday gift is to express some form of compassion toward the one receiving the gift. But often shopping degrades into buying on auto-pilot, with little thought other than checking a name off a list.

And lost in the rush is our sense of gratitude. a gift that needs no wrapping paper, ribbon or space under the Christmas tree. Research is conclusive that those who approach life with a sense of gratitude, have fewer mental and physical problems, live longer, exhibit less stress, have a stronger immune system, and even handle loss far better than those who do not live life with the recognition that they do indeed have a lot for which to be grateful.

So how does a person find that place, a place where gratitude finds a regular place in our lives, especially during the holidays?  

The best place to start, according to more than one study, is to verbally acknowledge those things for which you are thankful every day. Not just during the holiday season.

Those in this study who wrote down a daily gratitude list for one full year expressed the experience profound change in their lives. Stories of overcoming depression, lowered blood pressure, and even healing of relationships were common among those who finished the year-long gratitude list project.

So make your first holiday gift this year one for yourself. Commit to a daily practice of gratitude, verbal or written for the next 365 days. You won't be sorry.

G.K. Chesterton once wrote:  Thanks are the highest form of thought... gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

And that is my Thanksgiving wish to all this season as you give thanks today, that you will experience happiness doubled by wonder.

A Day to Thank Our Veterans and Remember Their Service

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The history of our nation is not best measured by our wars, but by those who fought them. Great conflicts during the first 100 years or so left our soil drenched with the blood or our own soldiers, not to mention those who lost their lives in wars at sea. 

And for much of our history, we have sent soldiers to foreign lands to fight. From the 4 million soldiers the U.S. sent to Europe in World War I, to the more than 16 million men and women sent to World War II to answer the call of our allies in Europe to defeat Hitler.

We made attempts to stem the fear of a rising tide of Communism sending nearly 7 million to Korea and later another almost 3 million to Vietnam. 

Today we still have boots on the ground in the Mideast attempting to salvage some democracy in the region while helping the citizens of those lands fight extremism and terrorism, and in other places across the globe.

Some of these wars were just, others were not. Some we won, some we lost. But today is not a day for political rhetoric or scorekeeping. 

Today we stop and thank the men and women who answered the call of their county. Whether Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard, many gave up or continue to devote a large part of their life in service to their country. 

I know directly that members of my own family have been fighting in America since at least the time of the revolution. Sometimes they even joined the armed forces. They were the Scottish immigrants here in the Upcountry who opposed the loyalists in the American Revolution and punished the British who threatened their way of life. 

My grandmother’s grandfather, a Confederate soldier, rode home on a horse to his family homestead after more than four years at war. He had been gone so long, and presumed dead, that no one even recognized him. I had great uncles who fought in the Great War. 

My dad’s oldest brother fought in the European theater, and was captured by the Germans three times (but always escaped). My father just missed Korea during his more than decade of service in the Army and might have been sent as an advisor to Vietnam if hearing problems from his infantry duty had not kept him home.

I just missed Vietnam myself, although many of my close friends did not. 

And in the almost interrupted cycle of wars in the Mideast, many of my friends’ sons have been sent into harm’s way over the past 25 years. Some did not make it home.

Today I want to say thank you to them all and those who went before them, as well as to those who served stateside who made the overseas campaigns possible.  

Those of us who never wore a uniform, salute you today for protecting our freedoms. 

So Happy Veterans Day to the men and women who answered the call of their country. I hope others thank you for your service as well, and that you make time to reflect on why what you did was important.  

And, while I know I am mixing in a bit of Memorial Day sentiment here, the following is a reminder of the 40 million Americans who served their country in uniform. 

American Revolution (1775-1783) 

U.S. servicemembers: 184,000-250,000 (estimated) 

Deaths: 4,435 

Wounded: 6,188 

Last veteran: Daniel F. Bakeman, died in 1869 at age 109 

War of 1812 (1812-1815) 

U.S. servicemembers: 286,730 

Deaths: 2,260 

Wounded: 4,505 

Last veteran: Hiram Cronk, died in 1905 at age 105 

Indian Wars (approximately 1817-1898) 

U.S. servicemembers: 106,000 (estimated) 

Deaths: 1,000 (estimated) 

Last veteran: Fredrak Fraske, died in 1973 at age 101 

Mexican War (1846-1848) 

U.S. servicemembers: 78,718 

Deaths: 13,283 

Wounded: 4,152 

Last veteran: Owen Thomas Edgar, died in 1929 at age 98 

Civil War (1861-1865) 

Union servicemembers: 2,213,363 

Confederate servicemembers: 600,000-1,500,000 (estimated) 

Union deaths: 364,511 

Confederate deaths: 133,821 (estimated) 

Union wounded: 281,881 

Confederate wounded: Unknown 

Last veteran: John Salling, died in 1958 at age 112

Spanish-American War (1898-1902) 

U.S. servicemembers: 306,760 

Deaths: 2,446 (385 in battle) 

Wounded: 1,662 

Last veteran: Nathan E. Cook, died in 1992 at age 106 

World War I (1917-1918) 

U.S. servicemembers: 4,734,991 

Deaths: 116,516 (53,402 in battle) 

Wounded: 204,002 

Last veteran: Frank Buckles, died in 2011 at age 110 

World War II (1941-1945) 

U.S. servicemembers: 16,112,566 

Deaths: 405,399 (291,557 in battle) 

Wounded: 670,846 

Estimated living veterans: 1,611,000 

Korean War (1950-1953) 

U.S. servicemembers: 5,720,000 

Deaths: 54,246 (36,574 in theater) 

Wounded: 103,284 

Estimated living veterans: 2,175,000 

Vietnam War (1964-1975) 

U.S. servicemembers: 8,744,000 (estimated 3,403,000 deployed) 

Deaths: 90,220 (58,220 in theater) 

Wounded: 153,303 

Estimated living veterans: 7,391,000

Desert Shield/Desert Storm (1990-1991) 

U.S. servicemembers: 2,322,000 (694,550 deployed) 

Deaths: 1,948 (383 in theater) 

Wounded: 467 

War on Terror/Afghanistan (2001-Present)

Deployed: 775,000

Deaths: 7,075

Wounded: 20,752

Estimated living veterans: 16.5 million 

Market Theatre Production of "Rent" Electrifying

By Paul Hyde/Anderson Observer

Do you feel the tremors?

The Market Theatre’s “Rent” really is something of a cultural earthquake in Anderson County, rocking this conservative community with a bracing message of tolerance, inclusivity and joyous personal freedom.

This production of Jonathan Larson’s 1996 musical ranks as a bold, gutsy statement in this regressive political year.

Musically and dramatically, this staging is a shining achievement for the Market Theatre. The cast delivers the show with unbridled energy and passion.

Larson’s “Rent” updates Puccini’s opera “La Boheme” from the Latin Quarter of Paris to New York City, with young artists and musicians struggling to survive in the Lower East Side under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

At the center of the story are the guitarist Roger and club dancer Mimi. Swirling about this core are other bohemians seeking love in an unkind world of crime, poverty, addiction, intolerance and soul-crushing materialism.

Those obstacles are no match, however, for the bohemians’ zeal for self-expression and roaring devotion to carpe diem. 

Christopher Rose’s direction is both fluid and meticulous, endowing this production with an irrepressible spirit and momentum.

The propulsive loose-limbed choreography by Vaughn Newman and Mary Haley Thompson gives the show added oomph and vitality.

The cast is terrific. Bre Jeter’s Mimi has a honeyed voice, and offers a sizzling “Out Tonight.”

Tim Spears plays the role of Roger with angst and ardor, singing a heartfelt “One Song Glory.”

Noah Taylor, the executive artistic director of Market Theatre, is an earnest and sympathetic Mark, the budding filmmaker.

Drew Whitley brings an appealing warmth to the role of the anarchist professor, Tom. His poignant account of “I’ll Cover You” is heartbreaking.

Dee Werts plays the drag queen Angel with zest and flamboyant aplomb.

E. Lauren (Maureen) and Kelseigh Redmon (Joanne) soar mightily in their showstopper “Take Me or Leave Me.” That duet, the vocal highlight of the entire show, packs a wallop.

DeAndre Presley offers a deft contribution as the yuppie Benny Coffin.

In ensemble numbers, the entire group produces a magnificent, full sound. Julie Florin is responsible for the polished music direction. 

Kelsey Crews’ costumes strike the right bohemian tone.

The Market Theatre’s former industrial space is a well-nigh perfect setting for “Rent.” 

The recorded music tracks serve the show well, though I thought the music and vocals occasionally could have been pumped up a bit.

A small quibble: On the night I attended, some of Larson’s words were not ideally articulated. 

Theatergoers should note: “Rent” contains strong language and is intended for mature audiences only.

The Market Theatre, much to its credit, continues to build on the legacy of the late stage director Pat Shull who mounted provocative productions of “Cabaret,” “Chicago” and others at Electric City Playhouse in the late 1990s and early 2000s. These edgy stage productions broaden our minds and enlarge our hearts.

Four performances remain of this dynamic, go-for-broke staging of “Rent,” Nov. 11-14. For tickets, visit markettheatre.org.

Paul Hyde, a longtime journalist and English professor, writes about the arts for the Anderson Observer.

S.C. Schools Deserve Lisa Ellis as State Superintendent

Dear Teachers (Democrat, Republican, Independent, or none of the above), 

If you are not angered and frustrated by Ellen Weaver’s audacity to even run for state superintendent when she clearly lacks the credentials, then you can’t be surprised when you are treated like second-class citizens and your concerns are ignored. 

Ellen Weaver’s recent “quickie” masters degree from Bob Jones University represents the embodiment of cheating, corruption, incompetence, and everything wrong with politics. Like many of you, I worked hard for both my degrees, and although I was on a “fast-track” when I earned my MA from Clemson, graduating ahead of my classmates, it still took 15 months and a lot of discipline to finish. 

Furthermore, many teachers seeking higher degrees take night classes (after teaching all day), devote their weekends and holidays to studying, and invest three to five years of their lives (often sacrificing family time) to achieve what was merely handed to Weaver in six months.

That is a slap in these teachers’ faces. 

Please vote for the best interests of South Carolina educators and students. Elect Lisa Ellis as our next state superintendent. Lisa worked hard, just like you, to earn her credentials.

No one just handed her a Master’s Degree because of her connections to some partisan super-pac. Lisa has also spent decades in the classroom and administration, and she has boldly stood up for SC teachers even if it meant she might risk losing her job. 

Furthermore, unlike Ellen Weaver, Lisa knows what it is to work multiple jobs; she’s doing that now by teaching full-time while campaigning full-time. Trust me, campaigning is no picnic, and Lisa amazes me with her grit and unyielding determination to leave it all on the playing field. 

Teachers, you and our students deserve a leader who is not only qualified but who has walked in your shoes, who knows your frustration, who has been with you on the front lines. You deserve Lisa Ellis as your next state superintendent. 

Please get it right this time. 

Mary Geren/Anderson S.C.

Fire Prevention Month Includes Natural Gas Awareness

By Jamie Exum 

As a natural gas technician, serving my community gets me up and out the door in the morning.  It’s an honor and privilege to help our customers and help keep our neighborhoods safe.

I’ve worked for Piedmont for over 14 years, and in that time, I’ve investigated countless potential natural gas leak calls at homes and businesses. While none of these calls resulted in injuries or death, it is always important to remember – if you smell natural gas, get out fast! This is especially important right now as temperatures turn colder during the fall and winter months. 

Over the years, I’ve learned there are simple steps you can take to help ensure the safety of you and your family if you suspect a natural gas leak. 

First, if you smell that rotten eggs smell – get out fast, and call Piedmont at 800.752.7504 or call 911 from a neighbor’s house or from another location far from the smell of natural gas. One of our trained technicians will respond and assess or fix the situation. It’s also good to know that natural gas leaks cause bubbling water, blowing dirt or dead plants. It’s also possible to hear a hissing sound near a natural gas line or meter – so it important to pay attention to these signs as a first line of defense. 

I encourage everyone to remember and react the next time you smell, see, or hear the signs of a natural gas leak. Just remember, “smell natural gas, get our fast!” 

Jamie Exum is an Operations Technician for Piedmont Natural Gas. 

College Professor Wish List of Skills for Incoming Freshman

By Jan Bridwell Amidon

I see a lot of posts about certain skills your child needs before kindergarten. I’m the college professor at the other side of their journey. I’ve been teaching for 20 years, so I made a quick list of skills that will help your child be successful on this next part of their journey. 

1. How to send a professional email (I.e. not starting with “hey” or “yo”). 

2. Basic skills of ordering food, tipping, paying bills, basic car skills, making appointments, being on time. 

3. Making eye contact and shaking hands. Social anxiety can be a real issue with college students. The more confidence they have socially, the easier it will be to transition to an environment where they are constantly meeting new people.

4. Laundry. Spend a couple of days this summer teaching them, then equip them with some awesome products and a basket in which they can haul it all around. Bonus points if the hamper has backpack straps to free up their hands! 

5. Time management. Most of my students really struggle with managing their time with so many demands. Discuss your own life and how you prioritize your time and then talk about how they can do the same in college. 

6. Setting alarms and waking up. If you’ve been their wake up call since kindergarten, it’s time to stop. Have them be responsible for setting their alarm and waking themselves up. I cannot stress how vital this is in college. 

7. Navigating tough days. There is a 100% chance they will fail an exam, have roommate conflicts, experience a painful breakup or lose a friendship. Often this can snowball into a depression they feel is insurmountable. Make sure your kiddo has coping mechanisms in place. Knowing how to navigate and to ask for help is crucial. 

8. A “code” for emergency situations. My dad and I had a code if I ever needed him to come get me from an uncomfortable or scary situation. It was a “no questions asked” code; I didn’t have to explain the why or how. If you can’t get there yourself, promise them an Uber will be provided for them. 

9. Confidence in them = confidence in themselves! “You got this!” “You can do this!” “I believe in you!” These phrases cannot be said enough! You’ve done an exceptional job preparing them. Love them, let them know they can handle anything life throws at them and that you’ll be there through all of it.. and then watch them become the amazing people you know they are.

Jan Bridwell Amidon is a member of the art faculty at Anderson University and the owner of Tiny Bird Bread & Bakery.

Aug. 11 Reminder: Call 811 Before Digging

By Lee Bedell

Advice from a natural gas worker:  On 811 Day, remember that safe digging starts with a call to 811 

“I didn’t know.”

That’s what I heard time and time again over my 36-year career as a Piedmont Natural Gas worker and fire chief after arriving on scene at a cut natural gas line.  Sometimes it was a homeowner.  Other times, a contractor. Almost every time, they were working on a project and hit a line by mistake, saying they didn’t know to call 811 before beginning to dig. 

One homeowner didn’t call 811 before digging in his front yard while installing a new water line when he accidently hit a ¾ inch natural gas line with his trencher, sparking a fireball that caused a life-threatening emergency.  Luckily, that homeowner escaped with his life but was left with a very expensive lesson he’ll never forget. 

Unfortunately, a do-it-yourself home improvement project turns into an emergency thousands of times a year.  Already in 2022, Piedmont Natural Gas and Duke Energy reported damage to underground natural gas and electric lines nearly 5,000 times.  

August 11 is a day dedicated to preventing these types of accidents by calling 811 – a free and easy service that prevents injuries, outages, costly repairs by identifying underground utility lines before a landscaping or yard project.  Anyone preparing for a digging project of any kind should call 811 at least three business days before digging begins. When you dial the number, a crew will come to your home, business, or project area to mark underground lines with stakes, flags, or paint. 

I was a natural gas worker for over 36 years.  Every day I woke up proud to serve my community and help my fellow neighbors. On this 811 Day, I challenge all of you to help keep our homes, families, and neighborhoods safe by calling 811 every time we pick up a shovel for a project.  Calling 811 at least three days before digging keeps everyone safer.

Lee Bedell is a retired Piedmont Natural Gas worker and Wentworth Fire Chief in Greensboro, N.C.