By Bill Davis, senior editor | State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman is getting praise from all corners for the job she’s done to rebuild the state Department of Education. [This story was updated at 11 a.m. with comments from Spearman.]
Spearman began serving in January 2015 and, according to every source interviewed for this story, was faced with piecing back together a state agency that had been “stripped,” “demoralized,” “dismantled,” replete with major internal and external divisions.
Spearman succeeded Mick Zais, a former general and Newberry College president, who made headlines one year when he declined to apply for millions in federal funding and later cut the agency’s budget.
So far, observers say Spearman has earned straight As for the work she’s done rebuilding confidence and communication, and getting more parties to focus on improving public education in South Carolina.
Those same sources, Republicans and Democrats, agreed Zais left the agency in shambles. And again, they all praised the work she’s done picking up the pieces.
What Spearman says
With two legislative sessions behind her, Spearman is no longer new on the job, and there are questions about where she will lead the agency in the second half of her current term.
Spearman said her agency was close to announcing several new projects that she claims will have positive impacts on state public education over the next two years.
First and foremost will be a “rewriting” of the agency’s accountability system that will evaluate schools, teachers and students on a variety of tests and benchmarks.
“Instead of everything being focused on one high-stakes test,” said Spearman.
The second big project will be an enhancement to the state’s “work keys” curriculum that guides students into higher tech and higher-paying manufacturing jobs.
Spearman agreed that the pendulum has swung nationally in education policy, and it once again favors finding at path for some kids who aren’t a good fit for four-year colleges and steering them into the trades and manufacturing.
A third project will be the continuation and implementation of a system of loaning out agency expertise in areas ranging from purchasing computer technology to early childhood instruction to poorer, mostly rural school districts that will be more of a “collaboration” between the agency and the districts, said Spearman.
Differences, not divisions
Veteran state Sen. John Matthews (D-Bowman), a retired principal who serves on the Senate Education Committee, put a personal spin on Spearman’s work.
Matthews said that he and his late wife had been married for over 54 years. “There were differences, but no divisions,” he said. “Spearman has it down now to differences, with all entities talking to each other, not negatively, but talking positively. She had a deficit from day one; there were a lot of divisions.
State Rep. Rita Allison said she agreed with Matthew’s perspective “100 percent.”
A Republican representing Spartanburg since 1992, Allison is currently the chair of the House Education and Public Works Committee.
“When Molly came into office at the department, all of the agency had been nothing short of stripped,” said Allison. That included the agency’s lack of a response to the Abbeville lawsuit, brought by rural counties who sued the state more than two decades ago claiming the state was not providing “adequate” education to all of its children.
Allison said Spearman has since stepped into that “void,” while at the same time “built staff morale” and restored confidence in the agency in school districts across the state.
Allison helped pass four education reform laws last legislative session, in support of Spearman’s agency. One reform makes state money and expertise available to help rural schools get new facilities; two sought further studies.
“How are we supposed to rebuild a community if we don’t educate the children?” demanded Allison.
Roger Smith, the executive director of the education advocacy and watchdog the S.C. Education Association, said there has been an “180-degree difference” since Spearman came into office.
How’d you do it?
Another one of Spearman’s fans is her former employer, former Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum, who hired her to be her legislative liaison during her successful tenure several years back.
“I would not have been as successful without Molly,” said Tenenbaum.
Tenenbaum, the last superintendent most observers say “moved the needle” on education in this state, praised Spearman’s efforts, saying that they don’t grab headlines, but still greatly help the state.
Tenenbaum said she benefitted from several factors that Spearman does not enjoy. First, the governor when she held the job, Jim Hodges, made education his primary focus. She said former Gov. Mark Sanford “did not care” about public education; and that while Gov. Nikki Haley has made education a focus, “it’s not been her No. 1 focus.”
Additionally, Tenenbaum, a former teacher who rose to be the chair of the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission during President Obama’s first administration, said she had the good fortune of a focused legislature.
The General Assembly had passed the state’s Education Accountability Act, and all eyes were on schools, according to Tenenbaum. She blamed some of the lack of attention on public education on the media, which Tenenbaum said has cut education reporters from their beats.
Not perfect
Spearman stated in the past that she’d prefer the superintendent to be appointed by the governor, instead of it being elected in the political process,
But Spearman came out earlier this year in support of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a decidedly political move.
That announcement rankled some Democrats, who had been excited about Spearman’s election, as she had previously served in the state House of Representatives as a member of their party before later switching. Some said it would be nice to have someone they could talk to, in stark contrast to Zais, whom some described as increasingly distant and aloof.
“I said she’s done great; she’s not been perfect,” said Matthews, who added that announcement “sent the wrong message.”
SCEA’s Smith hoped that Spearman focuses on increasing teacher pay in the second half of her term, while Allison and Matthews said they wanted Spearman to push for more “skills-based” education tuned to coming needs in aerospace and manufacturing.
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