‘We’re doing this for our students’: Hundreds of Horry teachers to rally in Columbia
Potentially hundreds of Horry County educators will be in Columbia on Wednesday for a statewide rally, but school district officials say they’re prepared to handle the absences.
District spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier said they’ve been informed about the May 1 rally organized by SC for Ed, an educator-created advocacy organization, but they don’t know exactly how many teachers will be attending.
“We are unaware of any teacher absenteeism issues that will hinder us from providing our students a day of instruction as a result of the proposed event,” she said, pointing out that the district has 1,200 active substitute teachers.
Kendra Pennington, an Horry County SC for Ed representative in her fourth year at Myrtle Beach Middle School, said she’s expecting at most about 200 educators from the district to be in Columbia on Wednesday based on conversations she’s had with fellow teachers.
Pennington said she’s disappointed in those anticipated numbers because, while she understands HCS employees are treated pretty well, the rally is about improving education statewide.
“Being that we’re one of the largest districts, if we showed up, it would make a big difference,” she said, adding that she’s also heard some teachers are afraid of backlash from their principals if they attended.
A pair of school districts in Dorchester and Chester counties announced closures Wednesday in anticipation of the rally and, though Pennington said she wishes HCS would follow suit, she understands the district remaining open with so many available substitutes and 15 missed days relating to Hurricane Florence.
Bourcier did not offer an official district stance on the rally, except to point out that the HCS core values state, “We put service to students above all else.”
Those words echo the statement Monday from State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman regarding what she and other critics of the planned rally are referring to as a “walkout.”
“I became a teacher because I love and believe in education and the needs of my students always came first,” she said in the statement. “Now, as State Superintendent, my first responsibility and top priority is to the nearly 800,000 students of our state. That is why on May 1, I will not be joining those teachers who decide to walk out on their classrooms.”
Pennington said that Spearman’s statement, while not surprising, is disappointing and serves as further proof that legislators and state leaders are not listening.
SC for Ed has consistently stated that Wednesday’s rally is not a walkout as teachers are using earned personal or vacation days, informing their administrations in advance to assure substitutes are in place.
“We’re doing this for our students,” Pennington said, pointing out that SC for Ed’s requests include smaller class sizes, more mental health professionals and 10 percent staff raises.
She added that registrations for the rally have jumped since Spearman’s statement, and urged anyone who supports public education to be in Columbia on Wednesday.
Cori Shuford, a Carolina Forest Elementary teacher who plans on rallying, said reducing class sizes would improve numerous issues, including student discipline, class management and individualized attention. She has 26 kindergarten students in her class.
“I do not care about my pay,” she said. “I care about the kids in my classroom.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2019 at 3:58 PM.
