Governor Sanford has signed legislation that gives school districts more flexibility when they’re short on cash. It allows for teacher furloughs and the shifting of funds. And it allows negotiation of retired teacher salaries who have returned to work. State Superintendent Jim Rex said it’s welcome news for school administrators. But he says the real issue facing schools now is whether or not the state will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds.
Statewide, teachers are concerned about the stimulus issue.
Dawn Turner is an instructional technology specialist at Lonnie B. Nelson elementary in Richland District #2. She says she knows that many of her colleagues in neighboring Richland One School District have already received pink slips and don’t expect to return to work in that district next year if the stimulus funds don’t arrive. She says the governor’s refusal to accept the stimulus money would be disasterous. “It’s a threat. I know of coworkers, even in Richland One, who got pink slips, and 150 letters were sent out before spring break last week. One school got hit with 12. You’re talking about a fourth of that school…it gone.”
Teachers worried about Sanford’s position on stimulus funds
Tort Reform Bill on hold
When the Senate resumes its work on Tuesday –after a week off– one bill will stay in subcommittee.
Pickens Senator Larry Martin, the sponsor of a Senate Tort Reform measure says there just isn’t time is this session to get the bill through the Senate.
“There are so many questions that need to be resolved, rather than hurry it out, maybe get a three-fourths or 80 percent package to the floor, I’d like to get a 100 percent package to the floor and the best way to do probably do that is to wait until next session,” says Martin.
After hearing testimony from the insurance industry and business interests, Martin says there are strong provisions in the current bill, including, he says, “The idea of a non-economic loss cap–which is pain and suffering–which is something that we can all agree to give, and then have the benefit of lower rates, which translates into lower doctor, hospital rates, those type things that benefit all consumers. On the business side, that’s huge.”
Attorney J.P. “Pete” Strom, Jr., says its good for only one business, the insurance industry: “And what this is, is another bailout like what’s going on, on Wall Street. South Carolina citizens are going to lose their rights, South Carolina small businesses are going to lose their rights to bring law suits, and the only group that wins in this is big, big insurance companies.”
Strom opposes the bill as it stands now, so he applauds the decision to wait, saying, “This is the best news we’ve heard. We want to study this bill because when you boil down the facts and get past the insurance company soundbites, the bottom line is, the citizens of South Carolina are going to lose under this bill and we’ll be able to prove that if they give us the opportunity to do it.”
Per Senate rules, the bill can stay in subcommittee until the next session.
SC teachers riding the wave of retirement
A large portion of South Carolina’s teachers will be eligible for retirement at the end of this year, but as a national report shows, those who leave the classroom may never return due to the current state of the economy and the industry’s budget. The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future just released a national report stating that there’s a tidal wave of teachers that are soon retiring. In South Carolina, the same holds true.
Winthrop University has a Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement, known as CERRA, which provides appropriate training for prospective teachers in the state. Mychal Frost is with CERRA and he says South Carolina is also riding the wave.
“There’s approximately 50,000 teachers in state, so that 8,600 teachers represents about 17 percent of the workforce that’s eligible to retire,” says Frost.
Out of that 17 percent, some may not retire due to the current state of the economy and what the future holds for these teachers. The study shows that these findings leave questions about the new roles for retiring teachers. Frost says he finds that in the past retired teachers would return back to the field of teaching after retirement. Now, he says, that may change.
“This year with the economy and districts being able to have the flexibility and not offer contracts until May 15, there’s a great deal of ambiguity still out there with what will happen and how districts will be affected with retired teachers either not retained or by their own choosing not to come back,” says Frost.
Because of the current budget, Frost says more teachers are staying in the classrooms because if they leave they may not be able to return.
Turtle rescues on a rise in SC
South Carolina’s only turtle hospital has seen a rise in the number of turtles they rescue, as they returned four turtles to the ocean this past weekend.”We’ve got Miss Murrell, we’ve got Deb, we’ve got Big Mama Pritchard, we’ve got Little Pritchard, we’ve got Kiawah.”
Dr. Shane Boylan, veterinarian at the South Carolina Aquarium’s turtle hospital on the Charleston Harbor lists off five of the nine turtles currently staying at the hospital. Ranging from a 10 pound Kemp Ridley to a 320 pound Loggerhead, these turtles are all named after the beaches they were found on. Last Sunday, four sea turtles were returned to the Atlantic Ocean and now Boylan is trying to rescue the remaining. Most of the turtles washed up on shore have experienced similar trauma.
“The majority of our cases that we got last year were hit by boat so that’s our big pattern; boat propellor hit the back of the shell, which is called the carapace (care-ah-piss). So you get severe blood loss and subsequent infection and due to the location of their lungs, they’re attached to the back of the top of the shell, the carapace a subsequent pneumonia is very likely and pneumonia is a very difficult disease to cure in these animals,” says Boylan.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is currently conducting an investigation to look into the turtle population.
“We’ve seen more turtles every year, we’ve got more in already this year than we have at this time last year or any of the years previous,” says Boylan.
Boylan says there is definitely more people on the water, causing these boating accidents, which could be the reason for the rise in number of turtles on the shore. DNR’s investigation will look at other options. Five of the nine sea turtles will be released from the hospital soon. The hospital will release them into the water of Charleston beaches.
