Opinion: Vote for School Board Candidates That Support McGinley

—by Gregg Meyers

Public education did not get into its weak overall condition because it tried too many new ideas.  For the last decade, two new ideas have been at work in Charleston County — administrative continuity and charter schools.

From 1968 to 2007, the Charleston County School Board was unable, or unwilling, to allow any superintendent to stay long enough to work in a consistent direction to improve public schools.  In May, 2007, Dr. Nancy McGinley was made superintendent, and for the first time ever the district has benefitted from having more than five years of continuity from the Superintendent’s position.  Dr. McGinley has served a longer term than any Superintendent in the history of Charleston County, and the Board should keep her as Superintendent, to maintain that continuity and the improvements which have derived from it.

Charter Schools have added some helpful options to the schools available to parents, but no charter school yet has been able to turn around an existing low-performing school — the hardest and most important task in public education.  Existing schools that converted to charter are more expensive as charters, but they were good schools before converting and remain good schools after converting.  They just cost more than they did before.

The hard work of turning around poverty-impacted schools remains the work of “regular” schools under Dr. McGinley’s direction.  No charter has been able to tackle that task, but just because “charter” is not a magic elixir is no reason not to be open-minded about charter schools.  Just recognize that the hardest work, the work of improving low-performing schools, will be done under Dr. McGinley.

Candidates running for school board should be asked (1) if they support Dr. McGinley, (2) if they are smart enough to realize the benefit of administrative continuity, and (3) if they recognize that charter schools are to be encouraged without mistakenly thinking the “charter” label will turn around a poverty-impacted school. 

Any candidate with a closed mind on any of those three points should not get your vote.