{"id":18583,"date":"2019-03-04T16:17:57","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T21:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/?p=18583"},"modified":"2019-03-05T09:25:44","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T14:25:44","slug":"amid-rural-lowcountry-fields-education-is-desolate-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/amid-rural-lowcountry-fields-education-is-desolate-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid rural Lowcountry fields, education is desolate landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

A crumbling church in Hampton County.<\/p><\/div>\n

Seemingly endless fields of cotton and bare land where trees once stood tall. Houses crumbling under their infrastructure, with caving roofs and overgrown yards. An agricultural and lumber-based community plagued by poverty, divided by race.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The r<\/span>ural Lowcountry of South Carolina is home to tens of thousands of people, and the lack of industry affects all aspects of\u00a0 <\/span>life and all ages. Driving through the Lowcountry, you won\u2019t see big box stores, but rather abandoned buildings with shattered windows, a haunting reminder of the life that once existed.<\/p>\n

Transporting Industry to the Rural Community<\/strong><\/p>\n

Each morning, starting at 4:30 a.m., a Palmetto Breeze bus shuttles rural residents to where there is work.\u00a0 <\/span>The passengers arrive on picturesque Hilton Head Island between 6:15-6:45 a.m. and are dropped off at vacation resorts where they work in the service industry.\u00a0 <\/span>There are also stops in Beaufort for the same reason.\u00a0 <\/span>Then, in the evening, there are bus trips back home to the rural communities.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The Palmetto Breeze Transit has multiple routes to transport workers from rural Lowcountry areas, like Allendale, Colleton, Hampton, and Jasper counties, to Hilton Head Island to work in the resort service industry. Credit: Palmetto Breeze Transit<\/p><\/div>\n

Industry and School Funding <\/strong><\/p>\n

South Carolina\u2019s K-12 education system has been under national scrutiny for decades.\u00a0 <\/span>Many are critical of the educational standard of minimally adequate.\u00a0 <\/span>The struggle for high-quality schools for all the children in the Palmetto State continues, especially in rural areas.\u00a0 <\/span>Poverty and lack of industry go hand in hand, factors that have a detrimental impact on school funding. Businesses are taxed and have been left paying a larger share of the cost of operating the schools.\u00a0 <\/span>There\u2019s also a higher sales tax.\u00a0 <\/span>But in rural areas where there are no jobs and no stores to shop to collect those taxes, how are the schools getting the money they need to operate?<\/p>\n

The standard measurement for school funding in South Carolina is per pupil revenue.\u00a0 <\/span>However, it only covers operational costs, like turning on the lights, hiring teachers and principals. Nearly half the per pupil revenue comes from the local economy, but the state supplements areas with high poverty.\u00a0 <\/span>That\u2019s why some poor counties have higher per pupil revenue than wealthy counties.\u00a0 <\/span>For example, in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, Hampton School District Two got $18,689 per pupil, with the Poverty Report Card Index reporting it at 90% poverty.\u00a0 <\/span>McCormick County School District was funded at the highest in the state as a rate of $20,173 per pupil with 81.68% poverty.\u00a0 <\/span>By comparison, Dillon School District Three only received $9,144 per pupil with 69.83% poverty.\u00a0 <\/span>But there\u2019s a catch when it comes to how schools can spend that money.<\/p>\n

\"\"

South Carolina public school funding breakdown. \u00a0Per pupil revenue covers operational costs only, such as turning on the lights and hiring teachers and principals. It does not include building maintenance or technology.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m talking about these per pupil revenues, it does not include debt service, it doesn\u2019t include building buildings, it doesn\u2019t include repair to buildings, it doesn\u2019t include maintenance,” said Melanie Barton, the executive director of South Carolina’s Education Oversight Committee. “That is generally a local issue, that\u2019s where a lot of the disparity has come from, is that locals may not be able to generate the money to build a new school or address some of the structural problems especially if they are a small district where the tax base is very small, so that\u2019s an issue for school districts the financing of structures.”<\/p>\n

Interactive Map – mouse over the map to view statistics on poverty levels and teacher info for elementary schools.<\/strong><\/p>\n