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Education officials: Survey shows single-gender classes work

November 30, 2010 by

The South Carolina Department of Education on Tuesday released survey results it says show that single-gender classes have positive effects on students.

Earlier this year, officials sent out surveys to students, parents, and teachers involved in single-gender classes to ask how the new style was affecting them. About 7,000 students, or 41 percent of those enrolled, responded. Most believed the program helped their classroom performance and their own self-confidence.

While admitting the results are not scientific, state Education Superintendent Jim Rex was pleased with the results. Rex has been a proponent of alternative approaches to public schooling and oversaw the single-gender programs put into place in 2007.

83 percent of middle-school students who responded said they thought the program increased their likelihood of finishing high school. 94 percent of their parents thought their children would be better prepared to graduate. 85 percent of teachers said they saw better effort from students.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, News

Columbia bus system faces severe cutbacks

November 30, 2010 by

A CMRTA bus drives along Sumter St in Columbia Tuesday

The agency that operates the bus system in the Columbia area says it will be forced to cut back its service to the bare minimum next summer.

The Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority’s board on Monday moved forward with a plan that would eliminate 75 percent of its service and lay off two-thirds of its employees. The plan still requires the approval of city and county councils.

If approved, the plan would take effect by July 2011, when funding will otherwise run out for the transit authority.

CMRTA spokesperson Brittany McMillan says the plan would reduce all remaining buses to run only during peak hours. She says that would hurt those riders who work outside of normal hours.

The real issue is all of those people that depend on the bus system to get to work… Over 75 percent of the people who use our bus system use it to get to a job. If we’re cutting out 75 percent of the service, it’s going to be really hard for those people to get to and from their jobs on a daily basis.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government, Transportation Tagged With:

SCDOR responds to McConnell’s tax protection proposal

November 30, 2010 by

Some South Carolina lawmakers say the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) is making its own rules on what is taxable and what is not. Small business owners are claiming they are suffering, and some are closing their businesses as a result of additional taxes. Adrienne Fairwell with the DOR responded to Senator Glenn McConnell’s proposal to protect taxpayers, requiring the DOR to go through a process to tax.

Our response is that it is always the department’s goal to implement the intentions of the General Assembly, and when concerns are brought to our attention, we try to address those.

McConnell says the Revenue Department is working in reverse interest of the state, but Fairwell says they do their best.

“What tax laws are created those are the tax laws that we do our best to carry out,” says Fairwell. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legislature, News Tagged With:

Search continues for suspect in murders of two Aiken County teen girls (AUDIO)

November 30, 2010 by

Richmond County, Georgia investigators are continuing their investigation of the murders of two Aiken County teenage girls found dead Thanksgiving morning in a wooded area of Augusta. Investigators say 19 year old Angela Brooks of Warrenville and 17 year old Ashley Cushman of Beech Island were killed execution-style. Both suffered gunshot wounds to the back of the head.

Authorities are looking for 26 year old Travis Lorenzo Berrian who earlier was described as a person of interest. Berrian is now considered a suspect. Authorities earlier released a surveillance video from an Augusta convenience store from Thanksgiving morning that showed two men authorities thought to be Berrian and a possible accomplice, but Richmond County Sheriff’s investigator Capt. Scott Peebles said that lead turned out to be a dead end. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News

McConnell: SCDOR is going against Legislature to tax

November 30, 2010 by

Some South Carolina lawmakers say the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR) is making its own rules on what is taxable and what is not. Small business owners are upset with the way the agency is handling their taxes. Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell is proposing a legislation that he says would specifically state how and when the DOR could tax. McConnell says right now, the agency is conducting “taxation without representation,” and he will no longer stand for it.

What you have is an agency making tax law and taking money from the public without a vote from their elected representatives. It ought to be stopped and it ought to be stopped now. I intend when we pre-file bills in the next several weeks to put a bill in, which is going to be a Taxpayer Protection Act.

McConnell explains the details of his legislation proposal that he will present to the General Assembly in the coming weeks: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Legislature, Politics & Government Tagged With:
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