EASLEY, SC — 10/18/22 12:00 PM
The SC School Report Card came out today, and Pickens County can do better. A LOT better.
The good news is, in most assessments, the School District of Pickens County (SDPC) is keeping up or doing marginally better than South Carolina as a state. However, it’s nothing to brag about when our district’s English readiness scores are still at only 50.9% as compared to the state’s 46.6%.
Currently, South Carolina’s educational system is in the bottom 25% of the United States. We are failing our minority populations and students with disabilities in particular.
The state’s students take the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the 4th and 8th grades. For the 4th grade reading scores 39% of all students scored below basic achievement levels, with all minority groups, students with disabilities, ESL students, and those from poor families, falling significantly below average. The other assessment categories followed the same trend.
We are failing our students in many demographics on a systemic level. The dynamics of this issue are very complex no doubt, but we would love to see what the state is doing about it. Pickens County in particular.
What changes have they set into motion to improve our education system?
What goals does Pickens County have in these areas moving forward?
It’s clear something has to give. It’s our belief that our city can, and is going to improve over time. It will take a collaborative effort from the students, their families, the schools, and local, state, and federal governments to turn this ship around.
We will continue to report on the scores and progress of our educational system believing that they will improve over time. You can find the various test scores for SC on the SC Department of Education website.
How can you help improve education in Easley?
If you’re interested in more information about the county officials, school board representatives, and board meetings, click here. The next school board meeting is on October 24, 2022, in the Curtis A. Sidden Administrative Building, 1348 Griffin Mill Road in Easley at 6:00 PM.
All meetings are open to the public.
We have already reached out to the SDPC to get more insights and will be reporting more on this in the coming days.