THEIR VIEWS

Leveling the playing field

A preliminary plan on scoring the state’s new Palmetto Assessment of State Standards Test should give South Carolina a better comparison with other states than the previous testing method.

A subcommittee of the Education Oversight Committee has given its blessing to scoring parameters that will have students who meet grade level standards as passing the test for federal No Child Left Behind purposes. The full EOC must approve this grading platform before it takes effect in the scoring of the tests given in the spring of this year.

The decision is seen by some as watering down South Carolina’s standards, but we disagree. Under the old Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test, South Carolina schools fared poorly because of the requirements to meet the federal standards. The scoring of the PASS Test will more fairly indicate how South Carolina students and schools are performing in relation to those in other states. ...

South Carolina schools should have high expectations of their students — as they do. The curriculum should be demanding in every grade level and in every subject. This has been the case and will continue to be. What the proposed PASS Test grading formula will do is to level the playing field and allow South Carolina’s students and schools to be measured fairly with those in other states.

Aiken Standard

The effort makes good sense

A panel of state senators, appointed by Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, will evaluate a plan to improve the administration of health care services that would involve the operation of five different agencies. From all appearances, the effort makes good sense.

In one case, the change would come in the form of splitting one of the state’s largest and most wide-ranging agencies, the Department of Health and Environmental Control. Another portion of the plan would involve merging three agencies that have overlapping missions, The Department of Mental Health, the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services and the Continuum of Care. ...

The Legislature has resisted even basic, sensible restructuring efforts such as these because they cede power to the governor that now is held by lawmakers. The situation has been exacerbated by the sour relationship between the Legislature and Gov. Mark Sanford, who has made restructuring a centerpiece of his administration.

The debate should not be about personalities but about what is best for the state. Giving the governor more power to appoint board members and agency heads would place accountability directly in the governor’s office, not with a board whose members are unknown to most South Carolinians.

Besides, Sanford would be out of office by the time these changes took full effect. Perhaps the most constructive move Sanford could make to further these changes would be to stay out of the way.

The (Rock Hill) Herald

Old newspapers to be archived

Old newspapers serve as more than fish-wrappers or litter-box liners. They offer an unsurpassed historical look at their communities. The University of South Carolina is making it easier for everyone to have access to this history by putting selected S.C. newspapers into a digital archive.

The papers include urban dailies and country weeklies. Some have been in publication for generations and are still avidly read by those they serve. Others are long defunct. But each has a story to tell, and the USC project will provide greater accessibility. ...

Altogether, 21 newspapers published in South Carolina between the years 1860 and 1922 are being included in the database with the help of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is to be hoped that other historically important journals eventually will be added. ...

Putting the newspapers in the digital archive will make them available online to anyone with access to a computer. That will be a vast improvement over balky microfilm, which has a limited life span and must be replaced periodically at considerable expense.

When completed in 2011, the project will make available a wealth of historical material that now can be found only in selected archives.

The (Charleston) Post and Courier