"At Duke I realized how badly South Carolina schools are failing students like me."

[pnwmom]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/07/06/at-duke-i-realized-how-badly-many-south-carolina-schools-are-failing-students-like-me/?tid=hybrid_mostsharedarticles_2_na&utm_term=.3f7e87bb5f20

The state of South Carolina perpetuates what’s called the “Corridor of Shame,” a string of rural school districts where students receive inferior educational opportunities.

As a rising sophomore at Duke University, I now see what the phrase means. I was educated in one of those districts from Head Start to 12th grade. I know firsthand the issues these students face.

The “Corridor of Shame” consists of 36 school districts along Interstate 95. Overall, South Carolina’s population is about 36 percent minority, but the majority of students in the corridor are minority, mostly African American. There, schools receive resources that fall below state averages.

SNIP

High school was where I really noticed the disparities.

We didn’t have enough math teachers and barely enough working calculators. When the school added the International Baccalaureate program, the first class of students completed the program, but none were awarded the diploma. I enrolled the second year the program was offered, and our math teacher was still undergoing training. When he announced he would not be returning, training had to start again for another teacher.

Two AP classes were announced my senior year, but were scheduled at the same time. We were considered a technology center, but our computers were always down. Many of my peers ended up dropping out or flunking out of college.

[dsc]

1. This is why I was so opposed to tuition free college in the primaries

Our high schools are so inequitable that wide swaths of the country can't get into decent colleges. We need to fix our secondary schools first.

[pnwmom]

2. Why can't we do both?

[JI7]

7. Because what is more likely to happen is the minority areas will be left behind

[Duppers]

5. "need to fix our secondary schools first."

+++++

[Not Ruth]

3. Your underfunded struggling school offered IB AND AP? Why?

The school admin screwed up. AP is standalone, but IB is a fairly involved program that needs to be signed off on by the IB authorities. It needs a lots of money, teachers and attention. With that, you can go somewhere like Harvard with Advanced Standing and finish your 4 years with a bachelors and a masters. It is not unusual for the program to struggle for several years, until the school admin gets a clue. On the plus side, you can get a 7 as a grade, which really pumps up the GPA.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. Notice that no IB diplomas were awarded.

Meaning the students didn't actually achieve the standards of the IB program.

And schools have been known to offer AP classes but not require students take the AP exam. Or perhaps teach the class so poorly that no one scores above a 1 or a 2 on the exam.

Clearly the author of the piece has come to understand how poorly funded her school was, and how very underserved she and her fellow students were.

[Sancho]

4. After 40 years of teaching in SC, GA, and FL, there are "corridors of shame" everywhere. Believe me.

Schools are still segregated and funding is unequal. Even in districts with lots of resources, the lack of will for equal, quality education happens.

http://www.tampabay.com/projects/2015/investigations/pinellas-failure-factories/

Charter schools threaten funding in locations where resources are most needed, teacher pay borders on poverty in schools desperate for improvement, and parents are frustrated. Meanwhile, in gated communities there are public schools that would rival the most expensive private programs in the country.

For years, the repubs have targeted public education in state legislatures, and now the insane Betsy Devos is creating havoc across the country. The issues include both the amount and distribution of resources.

This country can afford an excellent public education for everyone. Hillary would have been the most education friendly President since Johnson.