Rex: S.C. schools get 'pretty good grade'

Soon, Jim Rex, South Carolina's superintendent of education and the only Democrat to hold a statewide office, will step down as Republican Superintendent-elect Mick Zais, takes the helm.

Before leaving, Rex talked with The Herald about where the state's public school system has been, and where it might be headed.

As for his immediate plans, Rex is taking several months off to travel and visit family.

The future after that, he said, is open.

Here are excerpts from the interview, edited for space:

As we prepare to for a new governor and superintendent of education what grade would you give our education system?

The school system has shown that it can improve under very difficult sets of circumstances.

We've had a governor who has not been generally supportive of public education. We've had a Legislature that usually bogs down and ends up in gridlock when it comes time to bring about reform and change that the state has needed for a long time. And in the last two years we've had the worst financial recession in our lifetime.

In spite of that, we've made some real progress. It's not as much as I want. It's not as fast as I want. But we're going in the right direction. So the school system, I would give a pretty good grade.

What are the biggest pieces of unfinished business that you think need attention immediately?

We've got to start with resources. You can't talk about that without talking about the need for comprehensive tax reform. We simply have to come up with the political wisdom and courage to change this revenue system and make it lower and broader. That would make it more stable and more predictable.

In addition, the way we give money to schools is going to need to be changed so that we get at some of these inequities we have lived with for decades. There are a lot of other things besides that, but they're all tied to that.

The Herald has reported recently that aging, broken-down school buses are leaving schools across York County and the state without enough vehicles to get students to class on time. What are your thoughts on the condition of our school bus system?

We have arguably the oldest bus fleet in America right now. We have a system in South Carolina that I think is the most efficient system in the country. Instead of being rewarded for being efficient you could argue we've being punished because the Legislature has not chosen to put money back in the system. So we have these old buses. In the winter when it's cold, you tend to see the consequences of those old buses more dramatically.

It's an observable, tangible consequence of having an underfunded public school system. There are other consequences that are probably more severe and consequential. But you see it. You see it on a Friday morning at 7 a.m. when the bus doesn't show up or a child comes to school late.

State report cards, released annually and intended to rate schools based on how students perform, currently don't account for achievement gaps between student groups, particularly between white and minority students and disadvantaged students and their wealthier peers. Should they?

Yes. That is such an incredibly important national issue. We have got to figure out a way to close that.

Do you have any concerns about Governor-elect Nikki Haley's stance on education?

I'm concerned about where her priorities are.

On the campaign trail, she said vouchers wouldn't be a priority, but she said she'd sign a bill if it came across her desk. That seemed to me to be a little bit of encouragement. I'm worried about that particular issue.

But I want her to succeed, and I'm hoping that some of her unorthodox thinking and her willingness to take a stand bodes well for the future.

Where do you think you and incoming Supt. of Education Mick Zais agree and disagree?

He's a supporter of more public school choice, which I pushed hard, and on which we made a lot of progress. We've tripled the number of magnet schools. We've doubled enrollment in public charter schools. We've become a national leader in single-gender classes. Where we don't agree is I think he would like to see some type of taxpayer support for private school and home school.

This story was originally published December 12, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Rex: S.C. schools get 'pretty good grade'."