A decade of difference.

• Author: Johnson, Karen
• Position: South Carolina, US

Were the South Carolina educational reforms like money in the bank?

South Carolina used to be one of the "Thank God" states. When rankings of educational performance and economic growth came out, other poor performers could point to South Carolina with relief. "At least we're not that near the bottom: Thank God for South Carolina."

Today, it's a different story.

Daufuskie Island, S.C., is an isolated 15-square-mile slip of land between Hilton Head Island and Savannah, Ga. All consumer commodities are imports, and all high school students are commuters. The island's isolation is underscored by the sight of youngsters gathered on the dock in the pre-dawn hours. And they won't return until dark.

Since the Civil War, a succession of disasters, natural and manmade, destroyed the cotton, timber and oyster industries, leaving little economic opportunity other than subsistence farming for Daufuskie residents. Until the late 1970s all the children regardless of age or grade attended school in a tiny structure built on land purchased by freed slaves for $35. No provisions were made for the education of children beyond what one teacher could provide, and the curriculum consisted of nothing more than rudimentary reading and writing. Such low expectations were rewarded with poor performance and disciplinary problems.

Today, however, Daufiskie bustles with construction activity. The advent of new "plantations" whose primary crops are golf balls has brought work back to the island's residents, and a small but enthusiastic tourist trade has developed. The Mary Fields Elementary School now serves all children through the sixth grade, boasts a staff of two teachers and a classroom aide, and is widely recognized for its creative teaching and talented student body. And although the secondary students must travel to Hilton Head for further education, the opportunities that await them on the mainland are vastly improved. The changes Daufuskie Island has undergone since the death of the oyster beds and the birth of the New South mirror those of the rest of South Carolina's economy and school systems.

Up from the Bottom

By the late 1970s the nation was faced with two disasters: public education had hit bottom and manufacturing jobs were being drained off to lower-wage countries.

South Carolina seemed particularly at risk. Her ever-weakening economy was built on the shaky foundation of low-wage, low-skill textile plants and military bases. Then the textile jobs began emigrating overseas, and automated, high-speed precision looms from Europe started replacing workers in the few mill jobs that remained.

Business leaders, particularly in the low-skill industries that existed in South Carolina in the '60s and '70s, vigorously opposed any policy that increased taxes. By 1983, though, these decision makers had become staunch advocates of education reform. They recognized that a literacy rate ranked 48th in the United States was not a drawing card...