|
S.C.
Statehouse Report
Sunday, Nov. 13, 2005
VIEW: http://www.statehousereport.com/columns/05.1113.ranks.htm
 COMMENTARY
South Carolina
can do better than floundering
By
Andy Brack
SC Statehouse Report
 NOV.
13, 2005 - - There's no telling how many times people have
cited statistic after statistic about how poorly South Carolina
fares in one area or another. But it's tough to find everything
in one place.
So here's an attempt to provide a big list of South Carolina
lasts and firsts:
50th in job growth. An October report by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation said the state had the lowest
job growth in the country in the second quarter of 2004.
50th in high school graduation rate. Only 53 percent
of high school ninth-graders in South Carolina graduate in
four years, according to the Manhattan Institute. While it
says the state has the lowest graduation rate in the country,
state education officials say the rate actually is higher
at 67 percent.
50th in inmate funding. S.C. Corrections Department
Director Jon Ozmint wrote in April in The Greenville News
that the state had the nation's worst funding per inmate.
49th in average SAT scores. While the state's average
SAT score increased by 7 points to 993 in the most recent
test results released by The College Board, the state still
ranked 49th nationally and 35 points behind the national average.
49th in campaign disclosure. The state does almost
the worst job in the country in providing good campaign disclosure
information to voters, according to a recent study by the
Campaign Disclosure Project.
48th worst in low birthweight babies. Some 10 percent
of babies born in South Carolina have low birthweight - more
than any other state other than Louisiana and Mississippi,
according to the most recent Kids Count survey by the Annie
E. Casey Foundation.
47th in low infant mortality. With a 9.3 percent infant
mortality rate, South Carolina ranks higher in infant mortality
than all other states except three. (Kids Count.)
45th in computers. South Carolina is at the bottom
of states with households with computers in their homes, according
to an October 2003 survey by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
|
FEEDBACK
POLICY
We
encourage your feedback. If you'd like to respond to
something in SC Statehouse Report, please
send us an e-mail. We reserve the right to edit for
length and clarity. One submission allowed per month.
Submission of a comment grants permission to us to reprint.
Please keep your comment to 250 words or less:
feedback@statehousereport.com
|
Now to the other end of the spectrum:
9th in child deaths. The state ranks 42nd in child
deaths with 27 per 100,000 children, compared to 12 in New
Hampshire, which had the lowest rate. (Kids Count.)
7th in child poverty. The state tied with Texas and
Alabama in having a larger percentage of children in poverty
(23 percent) than most states. (Kids Count.)
6th worst place for kids. The state ranked 45th out
of 50 in being the best place for kids overall. (Kids Count.)
6th in domestic violence. South Carolina ranks sixth
in the country in the number of women killed by men, according
to the Violence Policy Center.
4th in unemployment. With a 6.6 percent unemployment
rate, only Alaska, Mississippi and Louisiana have more jobless
people than South Carolina does.
4th in fire deaths. The U.S. Fire Administration says
S.C. has the 4th highest rate of deaths from fires in the
country, although a 2004 story said the state ranked second.
2nd in mortgage fraud. The state has the second highest
mortgage fraud rank in the country, according to the Mortgage
Asset Research Institute report.
2nd in violent crime rate. FBI statistics say the
state had the nation's second-highest violent crime rate in
2004, while state officials say the high number is because
the state does a more accurate job of reporting crime statistics
than other states, which inflates the rate. The State Law
Enforcement Division said violent crime actually went down
in 2004.
Top causes of death. The state had the second highest
rate of deaths from stroke and third highest in deaths from
obesity, according to data with the S.C. Indicators Project.
First in speeding deaths. South Carolina has more
speed-related traffic deaths than any other state, according
to a summer report by two federal highway agencies.
First in high college tuition. The state ranks first
in the average tuition for state universities compared to
per capita income, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Now that you're overwhelmed with numbers and statistics,
think back to the movie Animal House and Kent Dorfman,
the character nicknamed Flounder. Remember this famous line
from Dean Wormer?
"Mr. Dorfman. Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go
through life."
Like most of you, I love South Carolina. But I swear, sometimes
I feel like we're the Flounder of these United States.
We deserve better. Our leaders need to lead us to be number
one in the things that we're at the bottom of the list.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For a full list
of sources of the figures listed above, visit S.C. Statehouse
Report online at: www.statehousereport.com/statsources.
If you want to research more about S.C. statistics, go to
the S.C.
Indicators Project.
RECENT COMMENTARY
McLEMORE'S WORLD
11/13: The meaning
of the Nov. 8 national elections
Another great cartoon from Bill McLemore:
LEARN MORE DAILY
 The
best way to get South Carolina news is to augment your morning
paper and TV show with SC Clips, a daily executive
news summary compiled from more than 30 state newspaper and
TV sources. It's delivered every business day and is packed
with news of statewide impact, politics, business and more.
Subscriptions are affordable at $30 per month -- and less
for business subscribers. More: SC
Clips.
FEEDBACK
11/8: Good column on Wilkins
To the editor:
Your interview [Commentary,
11/6] with Ambassador Wilkins was fascinating. Thanks
for keeping us informed of how he's doing!
-- Nancy Gilley, Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Recent
feedback:
SOUTH CAROLINA SCORECARD
Here's a "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" related to various
political events from the past week:
Thumbs
up
Brighter economy. State officials say the state will
take in about $467 more than expected in sales and income
tax due to a brighter economy. Now, it's time to get to work
on high unemployment and low job growth rates.
The State. Hats off to the newspaper for exposing
overcharging at the Pentagon, which brought on a congressional
inquiry in the last week.
Thumbs
down
State schools. Recent below-expected scores on school
report cards should serve as a wake-up call to education officials
(as some have already said.) Some 25 percent of schools in
the state are rated unsatisfactory or below average.
State lawmakers. Most seem hellbent on eroding the
property tax, which will have detrimental long-term effects
and shows only a short-term vision generated by politics.
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
How you can subscribe to the full edition
of the report
The above version of S.C. Statehouse Report is the
free edition. Our paid version, which costs about $100 per
month, offer a weekly legislative forecast packed with information
that can keep you and your business on the cutting edge.
Notes veteran lawmaker Sen. Glenn McConnell: "Statehouse
Report gives an inside practical report of weekly problems
with and progress of legislation. It reviews the whole landscape."
In each issue of Statehouse Report, you'll get::
Hot issue
-- an early peek at weekly commentary on something really
big. Last year, we continually beat other news organizations
in finding major trends in issues, from teacher and budget
cuts to wetlands proposals.
Agenda -- a weekly forecast of the
coming week's floor agenda
Radar Screen -- a behind-the-scenes
look at what's really going on in the General Assembly
McLemore's World -- an early view
of our respected cartoonist Bill McLemore.
Tally Sheet -- a weekly review of
all of the new bills introduced in the legislature in everyday
language
Scorecard -- A Thumbs Up and Thumbs
Down of major political/policy events for the week.
Calendar -- a weekly list of major
meetings for the House, Senate and state agencies.
Megaphone -- a quote of the week
that you'll find illuminating.
To learn more about subscriptions, contact Andy Brack at:
brack@statehousereport.com
|
