Tenebaum Speaks to Columbia Rotary
By John Temple Ligon
Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

Inez accepts a gift from President Andrew Clarkson.

Republican Rusty DePass preceded Tenenbaum's lunchtime speech to the Columbia Rotary Club last Monday, Feb. 26. DePass shared his extraordinarily positive estimation of Democrat Tenenbaum's performance during her eight years as South Carolina Superintendent of Education. DePass declared Tenenbaum about the brightest bulb in the room, any room.

Tenenbaum told the audience how much she enjoyed all the niceties now that she's out of office. No longer a target for criticism, Tenenbaum hears only the nicest things.

Still, Tenenbaum had to remind the Rotarians of the importance of her recent mission. "Education is the cornerstone, the foundation, of a democracy," she said.

She remembered her Pineview (Ga.) childhood when the Russians launched Sputnik, and all America was blasting the quality of public education. How could the Russians be ahead? Must be the schools.

In 1983, the Reagan administration released "A Nation at Risk," a criticism of American public education that just about predicted the fall of a civilization. The report essentially told every American schoolteacher to shape up.

Inez talks with Mick Lourie.

Tenenbaum started her career as a teacher, but then she shifted to law and then to politics. It was South Carolina's appreciation of Tenenbaum, the former teacher, that might have tilted the last election for superintendent in a former teacher's favor. Jim Rex, who won, actually had time in the classroom, while his opponent did not.

In the country, South Carolina gets the highest marks for accountability in its education reforms. Another #1 ranking for South Carolina is in the improvement, the 31- point gain, over the last 10 years in the SAT scores.

For the first time in history, South Carolina students are scoring at and above the national average on nationally and internationally standardized tests.

Published by Education Week magazine, the 2007 report card called "Quality Counts" ranked South Carolina No. 1 in the nation in academic standards, assessment, and accountability. For 2003 and 2004, "Quality Counts" ranked South Carolina No. 1 in the country for improving teacher quality.

Inez hears from John Keith.

The greatest challenge, according to Tenenbaum, is poverty. Because of poverty, there's never enough encouragement at home. Another place to lay the blame for low performance is the culture of low expectations, which leads to a culture of defeatism. Why, Tenenbaum asked, does South Carolina always have a self- defeating attitude?

Tenenbaum's statistics report on her progress left a mood full of high hopes in the audience:

In 1999, 65% of third graders tested at grade level. When she left office, 86% were at grade level. In 1999, 65% of the English test takers were at grade level. When she left, 80% were at grade level. In 1999, 55% of the math test takers were at grade level. When she left, 78% were.

For the fourth- grade science test, South Carolina leads the nation in improvement. And all that progress while 53% of the students are Medicaid eligible. In other words, South Carolina's students are poor. If S.C. successfully works on the economics while the kids work on their assignments, the results can be even more dramatic.

The needs are readily recognized. South Carolina's student testing program was the first in the country to earn federal No Child Left Behind approval.