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Education bill to reform curriculum around clusters
By Matthew French
Staff Writer
Gov. Mark Sanford earlier this month signed into law an education reform bill designed to develop a curriculum organized around career clusters.
Career-oriented education is the staple of many European countries but has been largely ignored by American educators, who favor a focus on pure academics.
The Education and Economic Development Act, co-sponsored by Lowcountry state Rep. Ben Hagood Jr., R-Mount Pleasant, calls for the introduction of an academic career path starting as early as kindergarten and continuing through a student’s senior year of high school. The legislation says the South Carolina Education Department must develop a curriculum organized around “a career cluster system that must provide students with both strong academics and real-world, problem-solving skills.”
“Students must be provided individualized educational, academic and career-oriented choices and greater exposure to career information and opportunities,” the law reads. “This system must promote the involvement and cooperative effort of parents, teachers, and school counselors in assisting students in making these choices, in setting career goals, and in developing individual graduation plans to achieve these goals.”
South Carolina has the highest dropout rate in the nation, and trails every state in Scholastic Aptitude Tests, according to a graduation rates report issued in February by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. It looked at statistical data from 1991 through 2002 and determined South Carolina had the lowest high school graduation rate during that span at 53%, nearly 20% below the national average for the same period.
“The business community has shown a great interest in this bill, and it’s designed to get the schools serious about preparing our students for the workforce,” Hagood says. “I support the bill’s goals and think it’s a step in the right direction toward reversing our abysmal high school dropout rate. We need to recognize that not everybody is interested in or prepared for college out of high school and stop educating with only that goal in mind.”
Employers find skills lacking
Local companies say the talent pool can, at times, seem as shallow as a puddle.
In 2001, the governor formed an education and workforce task force, made up of government, education and business leaders. The task force identified a gap between the skills available in the workforce and those required by prospective employers.
The task force concluded that the state’s children need improved preparation for the workplace and successful careers, that they should be exposed to more rigorous coursework and career information, and that developing a highly skilled workforce will be essential to growing the state’s economy.
“It’s been a long time getting to this point, but now the real work and satisfaction of seeing (this act) implemented can take place,” says Don Herriott, president and general manager of global pharmaceutical manufacturer Roche Carolina in Florence and co-chairman of the task force.
Sanford has repeatedly said the top priority of his administration is job creation.
“The backbone of job creation here in South Carolina got a lot stronger this year,” with passage of bills like the Education and Economic Development Act, said Sanford, following the end of the legislative session earlier this month.
Implementing the bill
The bill requires schools to develop their criteria as early as the 2005-2006 school year, and that the law be fully implemented before the start of the 2011-2012 school year. Before July 1, 2006, the Department of Education has to create models and prototypes for individual graduation plans and curriculum framework for career clusters.
“The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and its many partners have spent years trying to pass legislation to focus student electives around individualized career clusters, significantly adding relevance to their educational experience and better preparing them for post-secondary opportunities and the world of work,” says S. Hunter Howard Jr., president and chief executive officer of the chamber.
“This monumental legislation has been a chamber priority for years and reinforces its new vision and mission to ‘promote an economy of increased productivity and per capita income to achieve global competitiveness.’ A career-oriented education system is fundamental to achieving that.”
Matthew French covers governmental policy and legislation for the Business Journal. E-mail him at mfrench@crbj.com.
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