Horry school board chairman continues partisan candidacy for Congress
Newcomers to Horry County, voting in their first school board election here, are surprised to find political party identification – that would be largely Republican – of the candidates because folks moving here from other states are accustomed to nonpartisan ballots in school elections.
While new residents might think partisan school elections are the rule in South Carolina, Horry County is one of only two in the Palmetto State that elect school board members as Democrats or Republicans. Lee County, northwest of the Myrtle Beach area, is the other with partisan school elections.
Only Horry and Marlboro County, bordering North Carolina, voters directly elect their school board chairman. Horry’s chairman, currently Ken Richardson, is elected countywide and the 11 other members are elected from districts, the same as those for Horry County Council.
Georgetown County previously had partisan school elections but changed to nonpartisan. Political partisanship ought not be part of school board decision-making. That is a major reason for nonpartisan school elections, and a change Horry County legislators should consider.
GOP 2022 PRIMARY
Richardson is an announced candidate for Congress, specifically the 7th S.C. District seat held by Tom Rice, Republican. Rice drew several would-be opponents after he supported the House impeachment of then President Donald Trump. Rice’s House vote was one of conscience, and a rare one not in line with the former president’s agenda.
South Carolina school board governance is anything but uniform. It’s all over the board. Horry and Greenville County school boards have 12 members. Typically, school boards have 5, 7, or 9 members. However, Beaufort has 11; Spartanburg Two has 10 and Darlington 8.
Four of the state’s 79 school districts have members appointed by the county council or the legislative delegation. Salaries of school board members vary widely. Horry salaries, increased a few years ago, are higher than nearly all other boards.
County legislative delegations have wider power with school boards than with city / town and county councils, which have the South Carolina limited version of Home Rule; the General Assembly has granted them some authority. Municipalities and counties remain creatures of the state, and school boards more so.
CRITICAL RACE THEORY
The nationwide kerfuffle over teaching about race in public schools is an example of why school boards and legislatures – as well as parents, students and teachers – should be careful about dictating or limiting curriculum. Critical Race Theory is a process of examining how institutions and public policies — such as zoning, policing, banking, health care and more — have created or increased inequality.
University of South Carolina professor Spencer Platt did his doctoral research in Critical Race Theory. “I see a lot of politicians making all these statements about what Critical Race Theory is, and it’s really apparent that they have no idea what it is [essentially, a way of thinking, not a program or a curriculum]. They say it’s trying to do things like teach folks to hate white folks … and, you know, I don’t know where they get that from. That’s just dishonest and not accurate at all.”
Keith E. Whittington of Princeton University is chair of the academic committee of the Academic Freedom Alliance. He writes: “It is evident that a struggle is underway with far-reaching implications on how race is discussed and taught in America.”
Whittington’s concern – which should be shared by all who care about the flow of factual information and the exchange of ideas in a democratic republic – is about legislative overreactions “that would hamstring the ability to talk about numerous issues, regardless of the teacher’s perspective.”
Our history, and our world today, includes racism. Facts are facts. Students need to learn unpleasant facts, and discuss and debate the details.
Some of the criticism of CRT is baloney – between the white bread slices of misunderstanding and fear.