Our weekly Top Five feature offers big stories or views from the past week with policy and legislative implications.
- Connecticut judge orders major reforms for state schools, Hartford Courant, Sept. 7, 2016
Saying the state of Connecticut was “defaulting on its constitutional duty” to fairly educate poor children, a state judge ordered far-reaching reforms beyond fixing school funding. The case highlights how courts are providing oversight in school equity cases and has implications for South Carolina, where the Supreme Court has similar oversight. An excerpt:
“Judge Thomas Moukawsher’s unexpectedly far-reaching decision also directed the state to devise clear standards for both the elementary and high school levels, including developing a graduation test. He also ordered a complete overhaul of Connecticut’s system of evaluating teachers, principals and superintendents. And he demanded a change in the “irrational” way the state funds special education services.”
- RELATED news analysis: Ruling shows U.S. schools are failing, The New York Times, 9, 2016
- Koch Brothers’ academy is secret weapon for conservatives, The New York Times, Sept. 7, 2016
The conservative billionaire Koch brothers are trying to fight hostility toward free trade and other conservative economic principles through the Grassroots Leadership Academy, which is a program to help bolster free-market principles long championed by the mainstream Republican Party. An excerpt:
“Taking inspiration from icons of the left like Saul Alinsky, the Marxist-inspired Frankfurt School, and even President Obama’s Organizing for Action, the academy offers classes like “Messaging to the Middle” (about reaching not just the conservative base but also persuadable voters), community organizing and how to wage a successful public protest, complete with costumes. The goal is not just to equip activists to compete with the left, but also to help rebuild the conservative movement in the wake of a Trump loss — or even a Trump victory.”
- Mother rails about tardy child support tracking system, Associated Press, Sept. 7, 2016
“South Carolina’s computerized child support tracking system is nearly 20 years overdue, has cost the state more than $120 million in fines and had four different companies try to complete it.” In a Senate hearing this week, a Spartanburg mother put a face on the impact of all of the delays by the state Department of Social Services and how the delays are hurting people’s lives.
- South Carolina prisons are woefully understaffed, WIS TV, Sept. 8, 2016
State prisons continue to operate understaffed, which is leading prison officials to take special precautions as officials try to recruit more staff members. The understaffing is leading to limits for inmates inside prisons, which could create a dangerous powder keg for the state in weeks and months ahead.
- State faces shortage of construction workers, The Post and Courier, Aug. 31, 2016
“Fueled by a building boom from the Lowcountry to the Upstate, South Carolina is facing a shortage of construction workers worse than most other states. That’s the finding of a new survey of the state’s contractors released Wednesday by the Associated General Contractors of America, a trade group. Firms in South Carolina are having a harder time finding help than their counterparts elsewhere, and most say they’re planning to keep hiring more people, even though construction workers here are pulling in higher wages and more overtime.”
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