STATEHOUSE REPORT | Issue 14.47 | Nov. 20, 2015
THE BIG TOMATO: This Wadmalaw Island farm stand crumbled recently after all of the rains and flooding that hit South Carolina. What’s kind of amazing is that it toppled not too long after it was filmed to be part of Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” show about Charleston food, which aired this week. Island resident Agnes Pomata (almost rhymes with “tomato”), who snapped the photo, told us the tomato icon on the stand had faded, but was touched up apparently for the show. “Its roof has been slowly sinking, as though its appearance on TV was its last glorious breath,” she told us. Thanks, Agnes.
NEWS: Reports stress importance of coordinating child services
POLITICS: Tip of the hat to a past campaign
COMMENTARY: Meet Charleston’s new mayor
SPOTLIGHT: South Carolina AFL-CIO
MY TURN, Reba Campbell: Grace in Columbia, too
FEEDBACK: Send us your letters
SCORECARD: From Haley to Haley
NUMBER: $587,000,000
QUOTE: On the edge
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Josephine Pinckney
Reports stress importance of coordinating child services
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher
NOV. 20, 2015 | Two new reports suggest South Carolina lawmakers can do a better job of educating and helping children by coordinating public policy efforts and services across state agencies and budgets.
At the end of October, the Office of First Steps Study Committee recommended a “governance structure that increases accountability, quality and impact of statewide early childhood education programs.” The committee, chartered by legislators in 2014 to review the effectiveness of the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness early childhood education initiative, recommended a cabinet-level agency to streamline and coordinate services to children, which often are fragmented across myriad agencies. Alternatives included making First Steps part of the state Department of Education.
Then this week, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) issued a detailed study that called on states to raise the bar for early childhood education programs, in part, by better coordination across state agencies.
“States should build a statewide policy framework to serve children from birth to age 8 and establish a statewide council to coordinate policy and make better use of all available public and private funding, which, in many cases, is spread across many government agencies, nonprofit entities and budgets,” said the SREB report, called “Building a Strong Foundation: State Policy for Early Childhood Education.”
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, who chaired the SREB commission that developed the report, said that it was important for states to lead with good governance structures to give children the best start possible.
“It takes committed leadership to bring together the various agencies and programs that play different roles in early childhood education,” he wrote in the report. “A coordinated and unified approach to early childhood governance facilitates progress in measurable ways.
None of the examples of successful and leading early childhood education programs in the report mentioned South Carolina. But Melanie Barton, executive director of South Carolina’s Education Oversight Committee, served on the SREB Commission that produced the report.
“South Carolina has an opportunity to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its early childhood programs,” she told Statehouse Report. “In fact, the SREB report was included in the recommendations of the Office of First Steps study committee that were released. South Carolina needs higher-quality programs for our children who are in poverty.”
Current system “makes my head hurt”
Centralizing early childhood education and other services makes a lot of sense because the current system is confusing and rife with duplication and waste, said Tim Ervolina, president and CEO of the United Way Association of South Carolina.
“We have one agency in charge of licensing providers (the S.C. Department of Social Services) and another (S.C. First Steps) in charge of making sure providers have good quality,” he said. “First Steps is also, in one of the strangest mission drifts in state government, the lead agency for BabyNet, the state’s Medicaid early intervention program for developmental delays.
“Meantime, some 4K programs are run by the Department of Education, some by private companies funded by First Steps, and some by nonprofit organizations funded by federal Head Start funds. Child care resource and referral services are coordinated by USC, while training comes from DSS, First Steps, USC, the South Carolina Center for Child Care Career Development and local United Ways.”
“The whole thing makes my head hurt,” he said,. “To make any progress at all in early grade performance, we have to put someone in charge, an early childhood czar, if you will. Otherwise, we just keep spinning our wheels.”
Other recommendations
The report on First Steps also offered other recommendations, including:
- Develop and com
municate a consistent statewide vision with goals for early childhood education and strategies before determining a governance structure. This includes fulfilling various state requirements, planning a statewide childhood data system and promoting accountability.
- Continue public-private partnership between First Steps and local county organizations, with modifications.
- Conduct technical assessment, and strengthen the capacity and capability of local First Steps offices.
“The Institute of Child Success is encouraged to see more attention drawn to the need for increased statewide coordination among early childhood services, and strongly supports the recommendations of the First Steps Study Committee to advance that effort in South Carolina,” said Joe Waters, ICS vice president.
What’s ahead
Now armed with state recommendations and a companion regional report pushing better governance, the legislature is expected to take a closer look into service delivery for children in the coming legislative session.
Last December following scandals at DSS, state Rep. Jenny Horne, R-Summerville, filed a bill to create a cabinet-level Department of Child and Family Services to coordinate children’s services. It remains in the House Judiciary Committee, where it saw no action in 2015.
But it is unclear whether substantial structural changes are in the offing as state lawmakers expect to grapple with major funding issues related to roads and a more equitable overall education funding system that is being required by the courts.
Susan DeVenny, director of the state First Steps program, noted, “We look forward to working with the General Assembly next session as they continue to make important early childhood decisions.”
Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
Tip of the hat to a past campaign
Former U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings’ 1992 reelection campaign against former GOP Rep. Tommy Hartnett was a bruiser, with Hollings narrowly winning by a couple of percentage points. But the two opponents came together — 23 years later — in supporting Hollings’ 1998 campaign manager, John Tecklenburg — in the runoff election to be Charleston mayor in what may be the cleverest recent direct mail piece we’ve seen.
It was created by Convergence Targeted Communications, a company run by Charleston native and former Hollings staffer Chris Cooper. The piece mixed humor and history to remind voters to turn out in the runoff.
Meet Charleston’s next mayor
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher
NOV. 20, 2015 — Just as Charleston plays a leading role in South Carolina’s history, economy and civic life, so does its leader.
For the last 40 years, that’s been Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr., a passionate, future-oriented progressive who has molded the Holy City from a somewhat sleepy footnote of history into a nationally-recognized municipal dynamo powered by its port, knowledge economy and world-ranked tourism.
So it is understandable that many across the state have an interest in the man who will replace Riley at the helm, businessman John Tecklenburg, who was elected Tuesday to take over in January.
Many South Carolinians outside of Charleston may not know of Tecklenburg, a commercial real estate agent with a long record of civic involvement. For years, he ran the family business, an oil distribution company. He also built and operated a store on Daniel Island. And he served as Charleston’s director of economic development for Riley in the 1990s, a stint that helped spur the revitalization of upper King Street, once the home of empty stores now filled with nationally-recognized restaurants, shops and businesses.
As a veteran staffer under Riley, he brings a well-rounded understanding of how the city works — and should work. For almost two years, he’s campaigned for Charleston’s top job by saying he would work to involve people in the city and to improve its livability.
“Charleston is not a theme park,” Tecklenburg said in a television ad that set his campaign apart. In those six words, he succinctly captured what distinguished his candidacy from the five people he faced at the polls on the first Tuesday of this month. His motivation: to serve the people of Charleston by working collaboratively with them to achieve a unified community vision.
Tecklenburg placed first in the general election with 36 percent of the vote, edging long-time state Rep. Leon Stavrinakis, D-Charleston, by just one point. Ginny Deerin, a former Riley campaign manager and nonprofit founder, placed third with 17 percent of the vote.
Deerin played a key role in Tecklenburg’s ultimate victory. During the long general election campaign marked by more than 30 public forums, Deerin ran a tough ad that linked Stavrinakis to developers. Stavrinakis balked, claiming the ad was negative and that such campaigning didn’t have a place in Charleston politics. As the spat intensified, Tecklenburg pushed his positive theme of unity and quality of life.
When Deerin didn’t make the Nov. 17 runoff election, she endorsed Tecklenburg. Many times, endorsements may not carry a lot of punch. But when Stavrinakis — the guy who complained about a negative ad — then ran a negative ad calling Tecklenburg, a real estate agent, a developer, the duplicity was too much for many. It energized Deerin’s supporters to return to the polls and punch the button for Tecklenburg.
“This was a good win done the right way,” one former city council member observed Tuesday, noting how Tecklenburg refused to take the bait of negative attacks and nasty campaigning.
Maybe leaders across South Carolina can learn something from Tecklenburg about running a campaign based on decency. In times when terrorists set off bombs in Paris and a lone gunman murders people in a historic Charleston church, it is comforting to know that the man who will now lead the city has a strong a set of core community values, integrity and single-mindedness to do the right thing.
He got that from his parents, former city council member Esther Tecklenburg and the late Henry Tecklenburg Jr., a statewide civic leader who worked for years with former U.S. Sen Fritz Hollings. Upon Henry Tecklenburg’s death in 1993, Hollings said, ““Teck, as we knew him, was the epitome of the Charleston gentleman and the Christian servant. He loved people – people of all walks of life. He took satisfaction in setting them at ease, sharing his wisdom with them, extending a helping hand, making a difference big or small in their lives.”
Sound familiar today? That’s the kind of guy who will now lead Charleston. His father would be proud, just as his family and friends are.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
South Carolina AFL-CIO
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Statehouse Report to you at no cost. In this issue, we’re tickled to welcome a new featured underwriter: The South Carolina AFL-CIO.
Unions are workers who speak up together to negotiate with their bosses for better pay, safer working conditions, and decent benefits. Unions promote a better balance between the right to profit and the rights of those who produce these profits. Unions promote an economy where working people have a say at work, including raising wages and improving benefits. And unions want an economy that works for everyone. America should work for we the people not just the wealthy and well-connected, the organization says.
- Learn more: http://sc.aflcio.org
Columbia’s moments of grace
By Reba Hull Campbell | Republished with permission
COLUMBIA, S.C. | I took off for a long-anticipated trip to Italy with three friends the first week of October. We flew out on a Wednesday thankful to leave behind the impending hurricane warnings and paying little attention to the flash flood alerts for Columbia.
Little did we know that we would spend the better part of our trip glued to international news reports showing deadly floods sweeping away friends’ homes and devastating our hometown.
We watched our friends’ usual social media posts about kids’ activities become hourly missives of who needed help where. One friend showed up in a yellow raincoat on international CNN. Another was interviewed on the Weather Channel. National news correspondents were posted in neighborhoods where just days earlier I’d been riding my bike.
I struggled for days to find the right word to describe what I kept seeing and hearing from the people back home.
Then a recollection from this summer prompted me to find it.
A couple of days after the Emanuel Nine shooting in Charleston, I happened upon an impromptu prayer vigil on the Statehouse grounds. I was hot and sweaty from a bike ride, so I stood on the periphery of the group that started out as mostly college-age African-American students.
Within minutes, the group swelled with people from all walks of life, who were drawn toward the crowd the same way I was. I soon found myself pulled into a prayer circle, holding hands with two strangers and singing “Amazing Grace.”
While everyone’s faith and courage to communicate that grace originated from their own hearts and experiences, our community showed a common humanity that was humbling and inspiring to see. Everyone became part of something bigger.
Standing in that circle of strangers sharing sadness and hope, I realized that grace was indeed amazing in this situation.
Grace shown by the shooting victims’ families as they talked of forgiveness without strings. Grace as they courageously explained how their loved ones wouldn’t want them to live with malice or hate in their hearts. Grace in encouraging others to do the same.
In Italy as my friends and I watched street after street of our hometown being washed away, I realized it was grace we were witnessing over and over again. And now that I’ve been home a couple of weeks and have witnessed the devastation firsthand, I’m more certain than ever that our famously hot city should more aptly be called “famously grace-filled.”
In the midst of the storm, grace was the young mother who lost everything but still wanted to find and thank the strangers who rescued her family. Grace was the teenager who was evacuated from his home but went back to help others escape theirs. Grace was the rescuer who treated family pets with the same care and respect as the people he was carrying from their homes.
In the days following the flood, the news out of Columbia could have been of our first responders dealing with looting and crime or people with a “poor us, it’s not fair” attitude. Social media posts from families who lost everything could have leveled blame or complained about their plight.
There was none of that. It was pure grace.
Within hours, people dealing with flooded basements that would have been a major ordeal just days earlier were out helping strangers find clothes, water and lost pets. Teens were trekking from house to house in the devastated neighborhoods helping any way they could. Children were delivering water, home-baked cookies and encouraging messages to first responders. Help was pouring in from around the state and country.
We heard people who lost everything say over and over “we will rebuild” and “others weren’t as lucky as we were” and “my family is safe, and that’s all that matters.” They weren’t whining about why this happened to them. They weren’t blaming or complaining. They were in a place of grace.
While everyone’s faith and courage to communicate that grace originated from their own hearts and experiences, our community showed a common humanity that was humbling and inspiring to see. Everyone became part of something bigger.
Watching all of this from afar, I had no doubt that this generosity of spirit would get us through the struggle of recovery from this storm. Several weeks later, I’m even more certain of that.
Reba Campbell is deputy executive director of the Municipal Association of South Carolina. This commentary originally was published in The State.
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From Haley to Haley
Thumbs up
Haley. Congratulations to Gov. Nikki Haley for having the 15th-highest ranking among the nation’s governors. According to information in this story, Haley got the thumbs up from 60 percent of South Carolinians. Her disapproval rating was 33 percent.
Cutting smoking. A statewide collaborative wants to boost the cigarette tax to $1 per pack to curb smoking. Good idea. Not only would it improve people’s health, but it would reduce hospital costs for everyone, which should slow cost increases. More.
Tecklenburg. Hats off to Charleston’s new mayor-elect, John Tecklenburg, who ran a positive campaign in winning the Holy City’s top office.
Riley. In case you missed it, check out this story in The New York Times about Charleston Mayor Joe Riley’s long career of public service.
Wilson. Congratulations to state Attorney General Alan Wilson after the state Ethics Commission has dropped a complaint related to campaign contributions. More.
Uptick. Nice to hear that there’s an uptick of 0.2 percent in the state’s high school graduation rate in 2015 — up to 80.3 percent. More improvement needed, but you’ve got to start somewhere. More.
In the middle
Education study. A year-long study of how to fix public schools following a court order for lawmakers to find a more equitable school funding system has resulted in a host of recommendations from a House panel. So remind us, what was the problem with the court’s original deadline of February for a plan? This report seems to go a long way toward getting there. More.
Thumbs down
Haley. Nice xenophobia, Gov. Haley. Sad to hear that you’ve jumped on the GOP bandwagon to keep Syrian refugees from coming to South Carolina. Islam isn’t the problem; radical Islam is. Keeping away children and adults trying to escape the terror is narrow-minded.
$587 million
South Carolina officials say agribusiness in the Palmetto State lost an estimated $587 million following last month’s devastating flooding. Agriculture officials say there were approximately $376 million in crop losses and $114 million in lost wages and $65 million in forestry losses. More.
On the edge
“There’s a lot of insects, it gets really, really hot in the summer and the traffic is worse than it ever was.”
— Actor and Charleston resident Bill Murray, on Anthony Bourdain’s new “Parts Unknown” show describing how he was on the edge about telling people how great Charleston is, but wanted it to stay the same, too. More.
Josephine Lyons Scott Pinckney
S.C. Encyclopedia | Josephine Pinckney was born January 25, 1895, at Charleston into a family long prominent in the state’s history. She was a direct descendant of Eliza Lucas Pinckney and Governor Thomas Pinckney. Her parents were Thomas Pinckney, one of South Carolina’s last great rice planters, and Camilla Scott of Virginia. In 1912 she graduated from Ashley Hall School, where she helped establish a literary magazine, and later attended the College of Charleston, Radcliffe College, and Columbia University. She received an honorary degree from the College of Charleston in 1935, and was named an honorary member of the William and Mary Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 1934. She received numerous honors for her writing including the Southern Authors Award in 1946.
Pinckney played a key role in the literary revival that swept through the South after World War I. She worked closely with Dubose Heyward, Hervey Allen, and John Bennett in founding the Poetry Society of South Carolina in 1920. During the following decade, Pinckney emerged as a poet of national reputation when her work, often evocative eulogies to a vanishing way of southern life, appeared in influential journals such as the Saturday Review of Literature and Poetry, as well as in numerous anthologies. Her only book of poems, Sea-Drinking Cities (1927) received praise from Donald Davidson for “a luxuriance of phrase, a quiet humor controlling deep emotion.”
Pinckney participated in other aspects of the “Charleston Renaissance” through her dedicated involvement in local cultural institutions, such as the Carolina Art Association, the Charleston Museum, and the Dock Street Theatre. Active in the Society for the Preservation of Spirituals from its inception in 1922, Pinckney helped with the transcriptions and musical annotations for the African American songs included in The Carolina Lowcountry (1931). She also worked quietly behind the scenes of the historic preservation movement in Charleston and was posthumously honored by the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society for the manner in which she “tactfully and persuasively, firmly and wisely” helped to restore the city’s neighborhoods and notable buildings.
During the 1930s, Pinckney embraced a modernist sensibility and turned her writing talents to prose. The Virginia Quarterly Review published her two short stories, “They Shall Return as Strangers” (1934) and “The Marchant of London and the Treacherous Don” (1936). Her essay, “Bulwarks Against Change,” which appeared in W. T. Couch, ed., Culture in the South (1934) remains an insightful commentary on the evolving South. In 1941 Pinckney published her first novel, Hilton Head, followed by the best-selling social comedy,Three O’Clock Dinner (1945), which made her one of America’s best known women fiction writers. Her third novel, Great Mischief(1948), a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, was followed by My Son and Foe (1952), and Splendid in Ashes (1958). Her editor at Viking Press remembered Pinckney “more warmly” than any other of his distinguished writers of the day for her “charm and grace of her character, the intelligence of her insights into people, the delights of her Charleston ambiance tempered by her cosmopolitan ways and her irony.”
Although Pinckney traveled widely, she always maintained a home in Charleston and her family plantation on the Santee River, “El Dorado.” Josephine Pinckney died October 4, 1957, and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery.
– Excerpted from the entry by Barbara L. Bellows. To read more about this or 2,000 other entries about South Carolina, check out The South Carolina Encyclopedia by USC Press. (Information used by permission.)
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