Ryberg Hails Death of PACT
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Columbia, SC - Senator Greg Ryberg today hailed an agreement between himself and senate leaders to eliminate PACT and move forward on a new accountability system for South Carolina. “PACT is dead,” Ryberg said. “The bill we passed today kills it as of July 1, 2008.”
Ryberg added that, “Other senators, Republicans and Democrats, agreed with me that the creation and administration of our statewide assessment test belongs with the people at the State Department of Education, the State Board of Education and the Education Oversight Committee (EOC) whose sole focus is education and not the General Assembly. I am glad that we have left it in their hands.”
Ryberg also welcomed the decision to remove mandatory formative assessment testing for six and seven year-olds. He said that, “I opposed the 100% increase in standardized testing for our youngest students, and I thank the senators who worked with me to prevent that extra burden upon them.”
Ryberg noted that it is now time for the superintendent, the State Board and the EOC to get to work and move us forward. “I encourage the superintendent, the State Board and the EOC to act now that the General Assembly has spoken.”
S.C. Senate OKs budget; McConnell gets $5 million more for Lowcountry schools
Filed Under Caucus, Leatherman, McConnell, Peeler, Rankin, Top News, ryberg2 | 2 Comments
The state Senate approved a $7 billion spending plan Wednesday after a 12-hour session that had coastal lawmakers sparring for cash and ended with promising state workers a 1 percent raise.
Final deals were reached just after 10 p.m. after Charleston and other Lowcountry legislators were promised millions to shore up spending for their schools, as well as more tourism promotion cash as soon as the economy turns around.
That cleared the way for the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 to head back to the House. A joint conference committee will work out final deals in the next few weeks amid fears a weak economy could prompt more spending reductions. Read more
Sanford approves stricter DUI law
Filed Under Caucus, Massey, Top News, ryberg2 | 1 Comment
In a year when the number of alcohol-related driving arrests has increased in the City of Aiken by 50 percent, new legislation aimed at closing loopholes that proponents say will help prosecute those cases has been applauded locally.
The bill, signed by Gov. Mark Sanford on Tuesday, toughens penalties for most first-time offenses and all second and subsequent offenses, removing community service sentencing options after a repeated conviction and requiring jail time.
But it also closes loopholes that Solicitor Barbara Morgan once said, at times, makes prosecuting a drunken driver in the Palmetto State more difficult than prosecuting a murderer. Read more
We’re right to be wary for REAL ID
Filed Under Caucus, ryberg2 | Leave a Comment
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford decided not to request an extension of time for compliance with the federal REAL ID program. I applaud his steadfast defense of South Carolinians and their rights and their pocketbooks. REAL ID represents nothing less than a massive federal intrusion with a multi-year, multimillion-dollar price tag paid for by us in South Carolina. REAL ID promises to return our South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles to the days of multiple trips and hours-long waits.
REAL ID threatens to leave thousands of South Carolinians without the ability to drive at all. REAL ID, finally, offers no solution to security inasmuch as if federal documents were the answer, then we would have no illegal aliens in this country. Thank you, Governor, for telling the federal government to keep their national ID card.
THE COST ALONE warrants Gov. Sanford’s defiance. The SCDMV reports that, to implement Real ID, it must develop new processes and build verification systems that do not currently exist. This would require an estimated $16 million in one-time funds and $10 million in ongoing funds — $10 million dollars a year, every year, that could be spent on education, public safety or roads and bridges, but would instead be paying for a federal mandate that offers no real hope of making us any safer than we are now.
