Who governs our schools? Clemson study answers the question

Published: May 3, 2010

CLEMSON — A new report on schools from Clemson University takes on a topic that looks to figure prominently in the South Carolina governor’s race: Who has the most influence over local schools?

The Strom Thurmond Institute of Government and Public Affairs has issued a report titled “School District Organization and Governance in South Carolina.” The March 2010 study is written by noted public financial policy expert Holley H. Ulbrich and funded by the Jim Self Center on the Future.

Three of four Republican gubernatorial candidates said during a recent debate in Spartanburg that they would support consolidation of school districts if elected governor. Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, state Rep. Nikki Haley and Attorney General Henry McMaster said they would implement consolidation. U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett said he didn't think a mandate was necessary but did say the system needs to be improved.

Like most states, South Carolina carries out its constitutionally mandated obligation for providing public education through local school boards and school districts. There are 85 school districts in South Carolina. Twenty-nine districts serve single counties, while the remaining 56 districts share counties with other districts. A few cross county lines.

But who has the greatest influence over how school districts are organized and managed?

In South Carolina, the answer is the state, concludes the study, which goes on to report that:

• Decisions about how school districts are structured are exercised through local legislative delegations and the largely automatic consent of their fellow legislators. Legislative delegations often choose to seek input from their constituents but are not required to do so. Recent controversial decisions about the structure and authority of school boards have been made in this manner in Pickens, Sumter and Fairfield counties.
• There is merit in giving the state a larger degree of control since it finances about 50 percent of education, but that should not lead to the exclusion of the voices of those who provide 40 percent of the operating funds and most of school construction money: local taxpayers and businesses.
• A sense of ownership of local public schools is important in encouraging support for quality public education among not only parents of students but other taxpayers as well.
• It is possible to share the control of school districts between the state and local levels in many ways, including the restoration of county boards, the delegation of powers, expanded intervention authority for the S.C. Department of Education and the use of referenda in deciding questions of organization and governance, such as the makeup of district boards and the redrawing of district lines.

“The issue of sharing control is a critical one as we move farther into the 21st century and a deeper recognition of the centrality of investing in our children for the state’s future economic development and quality of life,” said Ulbrich.

Ulbrich is Alumni Professor Emerita of Economics at Clemson University and a Senior Fellow of the Strom Thurmond Institute. She has studied and written on aspects of state and local government finance in South Carolina since the 1970s. 

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