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Dr. Meka Childs won the Superintendent of Education in SC. She will be the first African American woman to serve in this role.
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Introduction
The South Carolina Superintendent of Education is an elected position that oversees the state’s public education system. The current superintendent is Molly Spearman, who was elected in 2015.
Background
Molly Spearman, a former state legislator, won the Republican runoff for superintendent of education Tuesday, fending off a challenge from Sheri Few, a tea party-backed activist who had never before held public office. Spearman will face Democrat Tom Thompson, a school board member in Richland County, in the November general election.
The Candidates
The 2019 election for Superintendent of Education in South Carolina was a heated race between three candidates: incumbent Molly Spearman, Meka Childs, and Sheri Few.
Molly Spearman is a former teacher and state lawmaker who has served as Superintendent since 2015. Meka Childs is a former principal and district administrator who has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina. Sheri Few is a longtime teacher and school board member who has been an outspoken critic of the current education system in South Carolina.
The race was neck-and-neck throughout the campaign, with all three candidates having strong support from different groups within the state. In the end, it was Molly Spearman who came out on top, winning by less than one percent of the vote.
The Issues
There were four major issues in the South Carolina Superintendent of Education race:
1) Common Core:South Carolina has been a member of the Common Core State Standards Initiative since 2010, and the standards have been fully implemented in the state since the 2014-2015 school year.incumbent Republican superintendent Mick Zais has been an outspoken critic of the standards, and has worked to repeal them. Democratic challenger Meka Childs supports the standards.
2) School Choice: Both Zais and Childs support expanding school choice options in South Carolina, though they have different approaches. Zais supports publicly funded charter schools and private school vouchers, while Childs supports expanding existing magnet programs and allowing for more local control of school district zoning.
3) Testing and Accountability: Zais is a strong proponent of standardized testing and accountability measures, including linking teacher pay to student test scores. Childs has criticized Zais’s approach as too heavy-handed and harmful to students, teachers, and schools.
4) Funding: Both candidates support increasing funding for education in South Carolina, though they have different plans for how to do so. Zais wants to increase funding by working to increase economic growth in the state, while Childs wants to raise taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals to provide more resources for education.
The Results
The race for Superintendent of Education in SC was a close one, with incumbent Republican Molly Spearman barely edging out her Democratic challenger, Meka Childs. The final vote tally was 49.4% to 48.9%. This is the second consecutive term for Spearman.
The Winner
The winner of the Superintendent of Education in SC is Molly Spearman.
The Losers
The Results
The two big losers were the164,000 students in the state’s 46 rural school districts and parents who wanted more choices for their children’s education.
The election was a referendum on the status quo in education, and the status quo won.
The Losers
-Rural students
-Parents who want more school choice
Analysis
The election for Superintendent of Education in South Carolina was a close one, with incumbent Meka Driggs barely edging out her challenger, Dr. Zakiya Johnson. The final margin of victory was less than one percent.
Why the Winner Won
The incumbent, Dr. Molly Spearman, won reelection as Superintendent of Education in South Carolina. She has been in office for four years and has been a supporter of public education in the state. Dr. Spearman won by a margin of
12 percentage points, which is a significant victory.
There are several reasons why Dr. Spearman was successful in her reelection bid. First, she has been an effective leader in the state Department of Education. She has worked hard to improve student achievement and to close the achievement gap between white and non-white students. Second, she has been a strong advocate for teachers and has worked to increase their salaries and to improve their working conditions. Finally, she has enjoyed broad support from the business community and from other groups that are concerned about the quality of public education in South Carolina.
Why the Losers Lost
The superintendent of education in South Carolina is a highly contested and important position. In the most recent election, three candidates ran for the office. The incumbent, Molly Spearman, lost to her challenger, Meka Childs. Why did Molly Spearman lose?
Molly Spearman had been superintendent for six years and was widely considered to be an effective leader. However, her support for charter schools and standardized testing proved to be unpopular with many voters. Meka Childs ran on a platform of opposing both of these things, and her victory may have been due in part to voter backlash against these policies.
Another factor that may have contributed to Molly Spearman’s loss was her lack of investment in digital learning. In an increasingly digital world, many parents feel that their children need to be prepared for the future by being exposed to new technologies in their education. Meka Childs ran on a platform of increasing investment in digital learning, which may have resonated with voters who want their children to be prepared for the future.
Conclusion
It is still too early to know who won the election for Superintendent of Education in SC. The polls have not yet closed and the votes are still being counted. We will update this article as soon as we have more information.
