County Completes Phase I of Blighted Houses Removal

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

Anderson County has completed Phase I of plans to demolish abandoned structure in an attempt to improve neighborhoods by removing often dangerous houses. 

“It’s one of the most popular things we do,” said Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns. “Other than paving roads, it is the thing we hear most about from citizens. This ongoing effort makes neighborhoods feel better.” 

From the time the county receives a complaint about a substandard home to the time it is actually demolished, can take anywhere from six months to a year. The county ordinance in place, which is just a duplicates state law, sets the process for the work. 

The costs for the work and clean up can vary significantly, but averages $8,000-$10,000 per home.  

The most recent structures removed were: 116 Capeview Lane, 210 Williams Street, 2227 Roach Circle. 45 Harris Street, 50 Harris Street, 100 P Street, 102 Gray Fox Lane, 125 Canton Lane, 214 Horse Shoe Bend. 1304 Evergreen Street, and 1738 Belton Street.

Phase II includes these properties: 1. 51 Harris Street, 5 Hammett Street, 8 N Prince Street, 17 Lopez Street, 212 Leona Drive, and 401 Hall Street.

Opinion: S.C. Private School Vouchers Plan Fails Facts Test

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

This week’s plan by the South Carolina Senate to provide private school vouchers which would take funds away from public schools is short-sighted and ignores research which suggests such moves in other states have failed students on every level.

The argument by those who favor the vouchers maintain allowing parents to choose their child’s school, choosing what they see as the best fit, will improve education. This includes providing an option for those living in an area with underperforming schools.

They also claim that the state’s education would see overall improvement in a “free market” where public schools are forced to compete with private schools.

Proponents of public-school vouchers ignore several important facts.

First, their argument for vouchers doesn’t hold up to research in other states which have implemented such vouchers.  

Voucher program evaluations in Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., all show that students attending participating private schools perform significantly worse than their peers in public schools—especially in math.  A recent, rigorous evaluation of the Washington, D.C., “Opportunity Scholarship Program” from the U.S. Department of Education reaffirms these findings, reporting that D.C. students attending voucher schools performed significantly worse than they would have/did in their original public school.

Another study in Wisconsin’s evaluation tracked more than 2,500 voucher kids alongside 2,500 carefully matched public school kids. After five years, it found very little difference on test scores between the two groups. 

Clearly, the research case for vouchers doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, while the research case against them has been flashing warning lights for almost a decade.

The rhetoric in our state which has maintained that vouchers are mostly intended for students in poor areas of South Carolina also rings hollow. 

The original South Carolina plan called for offering the vouchers only to children who qualify for Medicaid in South Carolina, which means they are part of a family making less than $20,000 annually. The newly revised plan of this week starts with this group, then eventually expands to cover “middle class” families of four making up to $120,000. (The average household income in S.C. for 2022 was just under $55,000).

And while statistics suggest that test scores in places that are using public school funds for private school vouchers show no improvement, they do not tell the complete story. 

The biggest losers in school choice private school vouchers are disabled children. They don’t get a choice. Private schools do not have to provide special education, so almost none do. They decline to take on the expensive burden of educating children with disabilities because it is not required by law.

One study in Philadelphia schools found that students with behaviors and increased needs due to disabilities were often “coached” back to their home district. 

There’s also a moral case to be made against voucher programs, which promise low-income families’ solutions to academic inequality, but what they deliver is often little more than religious indoctrination to go alongside inferior academic outcomes. Will the General Assembly welcome the teaching of religion in the state’s Islamic schools and those others which are not part of a Christian tradition? 

At a very basic level, private school vouchers don’t do what education policies are supposed to: promote positive educational results. Study after study has shown that students who use vouchers to attend private school don’t perform any better than their public-school peers, with some studies finding that academic outcomes worsen for voucher students.

One national consultant on private/charter schools wrote:

“It has been my experience as an advocate that privates and charters have zero interest in educating difficult-to-educate children. Whether it be a disability, a broken home, or something completely out of the child’s control, they just aren’t interested.”

And then there is the question of accountability. Public school systems also have substantial fixed costs—including facilities and staff contracts—that cannot be reduced when students from different classrooms, grades, and school buildings exit to use vouchers. Fraud and waste are common in voucher programs, and there is scant fiscal accountability for private schools or voucher-granting organizations

While it does not seem to yet be a part of the South Carolina voucher proposal, many states require the signing away of a Free and Appropriate Education, an educational entitlement of all students in the United States who are identified as having a disability, guaranteed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, rights to those who accept vouchers. 

To claim that vouchers save money is only persuasive if you don’t have all the facts. The idea that vouchers simply shift to private schools the funds that would have been used on public education is a myth. Voucher programs often subsidize private education for families that can already afford it, and whose children would never have attended public schools.

Vouchers don’t save money for the government, either. A recent study published by the National Education Policy Center concluded that implementing universal vouchers would increase the total cost to the public by 11 to 33 percent, or up to $203 billion per year. Since private schools can discriminate in enrollment and services, voucher programs can concentrate in public schools those students who require increased resources to access equitable educational opportunities, such as students with disabilities and those learning English.

South Carolina should focus efforts and funding no research-based educational policies that have a better track record of academic achievement. This path would include: Inter-district enrollment, studying and work to replicate high-performing charter schools; expanding access to high-quality pre-K programs, and considering the equitable distribution of teachers across the state.

The S.C. Senate’s proposal is a shallow and simplistic solution to a complex problem, one which will not solve the challenges they seek to address, particularly when the evidence is just too weak to justify the use of public money to fund private tuition.

S.C. Plan Would Give Private School Vouchers from Public Funds

AP and Observer Reports — South Carolina senators on Wednesday approved a scholarship accounts program that would vastly expand eligibility for private school tuition vouchers -- making them available to middle-class families rather than just those who qualify for Medicaid.

Local educators, who would not go on the record over concerns of political retaliation, said the move will be bad for schools in Anderson County and across South Carolina.

Critics worry not only would such a plan take funding from public schools, it would offer little help to students in poorer districts, whose private school choices are often married to religious indoctrination. Much research has also indicate the vouchers do not meet their goals.

The House still must sign off on the proposal for South Carolina to enact the long-sought Republican priority that has seen a revived push nationwide in other GOP-led legislatures following pandemic-era school closures. 

Republican senators made some consequential changes on its final day of consideration. The measure initially limited eligibility to families qualifying for Medicaid, which is usually about twice the federal government’s poverty level. Now, middle-class families would eventually have access to the 6,000 vouchers funded by public tax money intended to help cover the cost of K-12 private school tuition and other expenses.

The cap changed Tuesday after multiple amendments passed. The Senate first expanded eligibility to include families with a household income up to 400% the federal poverty level.

Republican Sen. Wes Climer, of York, defended the amendment as extending the “extraordinary amount of opportunity” to “dual income, working class families.” 

“This is the core of the middle class in South Carolina,” Climer said. “These are folks who ought to have the opportunity to send their children to a school of their choice by way of the program we’re discussing here today.” 

Another amendment then created a bracket that more slowly expanded eligibility. The first year of the program would provide 5,000 vouchers for households with incomes 200% the federal poverty level. The second year would then set aside 10,000 vouchers for households making 300% the federal poverty level. The third year would allow 15,000 vouchers for households making 400% the federal poverty level.

By limiting eligibility on the front end, Republican Sen. Greg Hembree said the amendment would give lower-income children “the first bite of the apple” as the vouchers roll out and constitutional challenges arise.

“Instead of being a program that’s strictly for children in poverty, it would now be a program for children in poverty and the middle class,” Hembree said. 

Democrats expressed fear that Republicans would continue to loosen the qualifications in future sessions until public schools are eventually fighting with private education over state funding. Sen. Marlon Kimpson called the effort “a gimmick and a trick to open the door to expansion.” 

Other members of the minority party criticized the amendments as altering Republicans’ original purported goal of helping poor people living in impoverished districts and maybe limited by inadequate public schools. The newly expanded education scholarship accounts do not serve the working class, they said, especially when the average cost of private schools far exceeds the $6,000 provided.

Democratic Sen. Mike Fanning mounted a final challenge Wednesday in a lengthy floor speech before the Senate took what is usually a perfunctory vote. Senators had already voted 28-15 along party lines on Tuesday to give the bill a second reading. 

“We now have exposed to the world: this bill has nothing to do with helping poor people to go to school,” Fanning said in closing his remarks, which lasted over an hour.

Opinion: Protecting Teaching Black History Critical for Public Schools

By Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” –Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today, we kick off another Black History Month, a time intended to remind us of men and women who changed the world and their sacrifices, but who are at the same time in peril of being lost to history. 

The roots of this month began when historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History designated the second week of February to be “Negro History Week” in the United States. Woodson, born in 1875 in Virginia earned his graduate degrees at the University of Chicago and was the second African American to obtain a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University, and is widely recognized as one of the first scholars to study African-American history. 

Woodson chose the second week in February because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln on Feb. 12, and Frederick Douglass on Feb. 14, both of which dates black communities had celebrated together since the late 19th century. 

Initially, it was meant to encourage the coordinated teaching of the history of American blacks in the nation’s public schools.

That goal remains mostly unrealized in public schools, many of which, have become political equity chips for those who would not only oppose teaching the history of black citizens in America, but are passing laws to limit what can be taught in regards to racial history in this general. 

They argue that reminders of past atrocities create racial tension. But whitewashing history, leaving a generation of students ignorant to such history, is far more destructive in the long haul. And added to that mix, allowing the inclusion of black men and women who helped shape this nation in public school history books is lost. 

Many of these history making men and women are still among us.

I had a few conversations with John M. Perkins, the civil rights activist, author and international speaker on issues of reconciliation, leadership, and community development a number of years ago about the issue. Perkins grew up in Mississippi in the 1930s and 40s, before moving to California after being warned he was in danger following the fatal shooting of his brother by a police officer.  

He returned to Mississippi in 1960, where he led economic boycotts against white-owned businesses, leading to his arrest and torture by white officers in jail. The experience led Perkins to find solutions for racial division and reconciliation, and effort that is still going strong after half a century.  

Now 92, Perkins, in his ministry has worked with a myriad of groups on reconciliation and forgiveness, including former KKK Grand Dragons. He still maintains that “them” is the “ugliest four-letter word in the English vocabulary.” 

He writes:

“It's a word that separates and divides. It's important that we know their names. It's really hard to dislike someone you pray for regularly. One of the most important things we can do to move the cause of reconciliation forward is to pray for the brothers and sisters who we have been separate from.” 

Perkins also believes that education is directly related to quality of life in America.

And that education cannot leave out painful periods of history, and as we remember this month especially, the treatment of black Americans since our nation’s beginnings.

An education that omits painful points in history, is not an education, it’s and indoctrination.

Even the parts of the Bible which address history do not leave out the most sordid actions and events, often led by those designated as being those chosen by God.

So why attempt to sanitize American history to appease a minority of uninformed elected officials who pander to the loudest, mostly white voices? 

The history of slavery and the legacy of lynchings (more than four thousand in the South between 1877 and 1950) need to be included in public school history curriculums, alongside the attempts to repair the damage - even those that largely failed at the time - such as the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution, Plessy v. Ferguson and later Brown v. Board of Education (which found greater success in time), all important milestones that should be familiar to any educated person.  

And it’s not just distant history. 

Almost every day I come in contact with men and women in Anderson who not only remember but experienced profound racial discrimination here in our home county. Whites-Only water fountains were still in place downtown until at least 1970, and schools here were still largely separate by race more than a decade after the passage of Brown v. Board of Education decision.

They marveled at watching the progress of not only Dr. King, Malcolm X and other national civil rights leaders, who, though jailed, beaten, vilified, and the constant target of death threats, never gave up. Claudette Colvin, who set the stage for Rosa Parks, brought encouragement that change is possible.  

The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the subsequent Voting Rights Act and Fair Housing Act also helped move the needle a little, but, as history teaches those who listen, much is left to accomplish.

Ask your Black neighbors who remember, or whose parents remember growing up in the segregated South why those days should not be forgotten. 

My friend Hosea Williams, who Dr. King called “my wildman” for Williams’ skills as a protestor and organizer, often said the path to equality must be built “rock by rock.” More than a few rocks, bottles and other objects were tossed at (and connected with) Williams as he marched for equal rights, economic justice and compassion, and he used those rocks to build a foundation. Also, between 1970-1990 Williams fed thousands of low-income folks in Atlanta as part of his vision. 

But his idea that the path forward must be built rock by rock is best built on the foundation put down by black men and women who have and continue to make lasting contributions to society, and the fierce challenges and opposition they encounter.

Black History Month shines the light of liberty on the America we aspire to, as well as where we have failed to become who we wish to be as a nation. Remembering our past, especially in our public-school textbooks, does not inspire hate or division. Instead, it is a lesson for all in how we can learn from our mistakes and move toward a more perfect union, and not just in the month of February.

Haley to Kick Off Presidential Campaign Feb. 15

COLUMBIA (AP) — On Wednesday, a source close to Nikki Haley announced plan to kick off Haley’s presidential campaign at an event in Charleston  

News of Haley’s plans was first reported by The Post and Courier of Charleston.

Haley, 51, served as South Carolina’s governor for six years before serving as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. When she enters the race, Haley will be the first contender to join the contest against her former boss, who is currently the sole Republican seeking his party’s 2024 nomination.

Trump was in South Carolina Saturday for the initial campaign swing of his 2024 campaign, standing alongside Gov. Henry McMaster — who served as Haley’s lieutenant governor — and several GOP members of the state’s delegation, part of his leadership team in the early-voting state. 

During the Trump administration, Haley feuded at times with other White House officials while bolstering her own public persona. Her 2018 departure fueled speculation that she would challenge Trump in 2020, or replace Vice President Mike Pence on the ticket, but Haley did neither. 

Instead, Haley returned to South Carolina, where she bought a home on Kiawah Island, joined the board of aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. and launched herself on the speaking circuit, reportedly commanding fees as high as $200,000. She penned two books, a step commonly taken by many on the road toward the White House. 

After the Jan. 6 Capitol siege, Haley initially cast doubts on Trump’s political future but said she wouldn’t challenge him in 2024. 

In 2021, Haley told The Associated Press that she “would not run if President Trump ran,” but she has since shifted course, ramping up activity through her Stand for America nonprofit and political action committee, and endorsing dozens of candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.

Late last year, during a visit to her alma mater, Haley told an audience at Clemson University that she would be “taking the holidays” to consider a run.

New Project to Bring 160 Apartments to Downtown Anderson

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

A new project is expected to bring 160 new apartments to downtown Anderson.Artist rendering of proposed project

The $40 million investment is public-private partnership between the developer, Southeast Partners, the City of Anderson and Anderson County is aimed at meeting the growing need for additional housing options in Anderson. 

The nine-acre tract will feature three-story, garden-style apartments, pocket parks, green spaces and commercial opportunities on the property which stretches along North Murray Avenue bordered by Clinkscales Street, Fair Street and Tribble Street. The apartments are scheduled to include an outdoor pool and a clubhouse. 

The development, which is slated to begin construction soon, will also feature the renovation of one existing historic warehouse at the abandoned Chem-Text facility, which was once a chemical division operation of the Abney Mill.   

“We are excited to see this project break ground,” said Anderson City Manager David McCuen. “Our city is growing and that means we need more places for people to live.  Our council listened to the public and supported a project highlighted in our downtown master plan.  We also appreciate our partnership with Anderson County, making this project a reality, and the developers’ continued investment in Anderson.” 

This site was one of the seven “shock blocks” identified for redevelopment in the city’s 2019 downtown master plan, “Shock this Block.” More than 1,000 citizens participated with great interest and enthusiasm for the future revitalization of this property, naming it part of the West End Gateway of downtown. 

Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns hopes the new development is just the beginning for that area.

“Anderson County was pleased to work with the City of Anderson and the developers to repurpose and drastically improve that part of town,” said Burns. “We hope it is just the start of new investment in that area.” 

The developers of the new project are the same group which restored the Palmetto Lofts, expanding housing opportunities in downtown Anderson.

"We hope to begin work in the second quarter of this year," said Rob Wilson, one of the partners in the new development."

Wilson expects the first part of the project to be complete is 12 months. This is the historic mill building, which will feature 20-foot ceilings and the orginal brick, and house 18 apartments. Once complete, the rest of the development is targeted to be complete in less than two years.

"Anderson has been the easiest to work with of anywhere we have built developments," said Wilson. "It makes a big difference from developers' standpoiont to have this klnd of cooperation, and we hope to work on future projects here."

AnMed Hopes to Add Emergency Care to Piedmont

Observer Reports

AnMed Health has announced proposed plans for a new emergency room at its Piedmont campus.

Emergency rooms are where AnMed is witnessing demand from those whom prefer to seek medical care in the emergency room, according to AnMed CEO William Kenley.  

The process for the new facility is under way as AnMed has applied for a certificate of need for the expansion in Piedmont. A decision is expected within the next three months. If approved, AnMed hopes the new effort will be running by Spring 2024. 

The growth in patients using emergency care for primary medical care is growing due to a number of factors, including those who have no insurance and long waits to get appointments in a physician’s office.

Wilson, Sanders to Serve on AGOG Board of Directors

Observer Reports

Anderson County Council members Cindy Wilson and Brett Sanders have been chosen to serve on the Appalachian Council of Governments Board of Directors. 

Wilson, who represents council Dist. 7, Sanders, who represents Dist. 4, will serve two, one-year terms, beginning this month. For Wilson, this will be her fifth consecutive term on the ACOG Board of Directors, while it will be Sanders’ first term. 

In their roles as board members, Wilson and Sanders will help oversee the organization, set policy, establish service priorities, and ensure that programs, services, and funding opportunities are targeted to meet the needs of Anderson County and its citizens. 

The Council of Governments is a voluntary organization of local governments in Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg Counties. ACOG is a multifaceted service organization for local governments, providing public administration, planning, information systems and technology, grants, workforce development, and services for the elderly population. The ACOG works in close collaboration with community partners in building a competitive economy and promoting healthy, livable communities that preserve our residents’ quality of life.

Free Paper-Shredding Event Set for Feb. 11

Observer Reports

Anderson County is hosting a free paper shredding event Feb. 11 at the Anderson Civic Center.

The event is set from 9 a.m.-noon on the balloon launch field.

For more information, 864-260-1001.

MLK Blvd Entrance to Civic Center Closed Monday-Feb.13

Obsever Reports

The Jim Ed Rice Parkway at the Anderson Civic Center will be closed to through traffic from Monday-Feb. 13 for crosswalk installation and roadway work.

When complete, it will more safely connect the parking lot to the Trails Disc Golf Course Trailhead and the East/West Parkway Trail Extension.

Josie Jones Named DSS Director of Anderson County

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

Anderson County has a new South Carolina Department of Social Services Director.

Josie Jones, who has served as Spartanburg County Director since 2018 and will continue to do so on an interim basis until a new director is named, recently took the helm at the Anderson office, where she was a familiar face to some.

She began her DSS career in November 2006 as a foster care case manager in Anderson County, where she later served as a foster care supervisor. In 2014, Jones has also worked for the Department of Mental Health and Guardian ad Litem Program. In June 2016, she returned to SCDSS as an Upstate Regional Performance Coach, and in February 2018, she was named Interim County Director for Spartanburg County and was promoted to County Director in June of that same year.

“As someone who started my career after graduating from college, I have been fortunate to learn and grow so much as a person and leader over the past 16 years,” said Jones. “I have truly enjoyed working in Spartanburg and building long-lasting relationships and memories that will not be forgotten. I am excited about transitioning back to Anderson County where it all began and being able to work with an amazing group of professionals and external partners.”

Born in Charleston and raised in Cayce,  Jones graduated from Brookland-Cayce High School before earning her B.S. degree in Psychology from Lander University in December 2005 and her M.A. in Counseling with an emphasis on Mental Health Counseling from Webster University in 2008.

Jones replaces retiring Anderson County DSS Director Kenneth McBride.

S.C. Cuts in Tax Incentives Could Slow Mill Sites Development

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns discusses recreation, the budget, PAWS overcrowding, the cut in tax credits impact on old mill site development and more in this January 2023 update with the Anderson Observer.

Anderson County Emergency Mangement Director Josh Hawkins also updates the new special needs registry and the new boat the county has purchased to help with emergencies on Hartwell Lake, including fires on the shores and islands of the lake in this interview.

Countywide EMS Outlines Goals to Meet Challenges of Growth

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The Anderson County 911 Center received nearly 57,000 calls in 2022, 11,000 more than the previous year, and emergency management officials are planning for a continued rise in calls. 

The changes and goals for the countywide emergency system to meet the continued growth were outlined Tuesday during an Anderson County Council Public Safety Committee meeting. 

The jump of almost 20 percent in call volumes was attributed primarily to a shift in medical care availability and cultural changes.

Some patients without insurance or means to pay for medical care, who can be refused care in traditional doctors’ offices, choose an ambulance ride to the emergency room where they cannot be denied care.  

The numbers are expected to continue to rise as Anderson County evaluates emergency services in the county. 

It’s been 17 months since the implementation of the countywide EMS system, and medical professionals who implement the program met with the County Council committee to evaluate the program and discuss plans for the future.

The goal of the new EMS system is a response time of under 10 minutes to all emergency calls, according to Anderson County EMS Director Steve Kelly. The 9:59 or less deadline is clocked from the time the call is received until the arrival of the first emergency response vehicle. 

An outside study of 911 calls in the county found the EMS met or exceeded their time goal 91 percent of the time last year. 

Kelly said the strategic locating of 17 ambulances and 15 quick response vehicles (QRVs) is a key component of the program. The cooperation with local fire departments in an attempt to provide broad coverage. The ambulances are provided in partnership with Priority One/MedShore. 

Location of the EMS vehicles can often fall victim to political pressures in some communities, where some are accustomed to seeing an ambulance or QRV stationed in their area. The goal of the current EMS officials and the county is to have the flexibility to quickly adjust the location of all emergency vehicles based on population shifts, call volumes and seasonal adjustments without giving the impression that a community is without coverage. 

Anderson County Dist. 3 Councilman Greg Elgin, who serves as chief of the Rock Springs Fire Department, asked a number of questions about how the new program is being evaluated and about potential for confusion on who responds to emergencies if multiple first responders are nearby. 

Elgin, who is also a retired South Carolina State Trooper, said he wants to see the program continue to improve and that communication and cooperation between County EMS and the fire stations is important. 

Among the issues which currently present challenges to the countywide system should be addressed by Summer. 

A new system of routing and monitoring calls, Medical Priority Dispatch System, will provide a much more comprehensive set of communication tools which will allow for more detailed information for first responders en route. 

Training on the new system will begin in Anderson County in March, and the new system is expected to roll out countywide by July. 

Anderson County Chief Deputy Coroner Don McCown said the new system will be the critical component of the EMS system in the county, adding it will “revolutionize” the dispatch call system. McCown said he also hoped it will facilitate communication among all first responders in the county.

Kelly said other priorities for 2023 include finding funding for body cameras for all EMS responders, working more closely with local industries and municipalities. 

AnMed, another partner in the countywide system, is also planning to put a pair of community response vehicle in service to help with medical follow-up issues of patients deemed at risk of return 911-call visits to the hospital. These patients will be counseled and encourage to take their medications, keep doctor’s appointments, as well as being provided other services such as blood pressure checks.