OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
- Support an increase in the state cigarette tax to increase the number of children with health insurance.
- Support significant changes to the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.
- Oppose Local Spending Caps.
1. Support an increase in the state cigarette tax to increase the number of children with health insurance.
Uninsured children have much higher health risks than do covered children. They are more likely to go without health services, may avoid or delay care when it is needed, and are less likely to receive the proper medical care for childhood illnesses such as earaches, sore throats and asthma.
Children without proper health care are at a greater risk of poor school performance. Early developmental problems are not diagnosed and addressed. Uninsured children are 25% more likely to miss school and are more likely to have behavioral problems than insured children. Undetected illnesses and health-related needs such as glasses impair a child's ability to concentrate and learn.
Increasing the state cigarette tax is the best way to both reduce youth smoking (confirmed by extensive research) and to provide health insurance for more children in our state. South Carolina's 7-cent per pack cigarette tax is the lowest in the nation where the median state tax is 80 cents and the average is $1.11.
At the federal level, the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is up for renewal. This provides another opportunity to increase the number of children with health insurance.
CURRENT STATUS: 2008 State cigarette tax legislation vetoed by the Governor (House failed to override); State Children's Health Insurance Plan (federal SCHIP law)
OUR POSITION: The Alliance for Quality Education (AFQE) supports state and federal legislation to significantly reduce the number of uninsured children.
Contact your representatives in the state legislature concerning increasing the cigarette tax and using those funds to provide health insurance for more children and contact your U.S. congressmen concerning expanding SCHIP.
2. Support significant changes to the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was signed into law on January 8, 2002. It is the current name for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) passed in 1965. NCLB was up for reauthorization in 2007, but passage of reauthorizing legislation will probably not occur until 2009.
Despite calls by some to eliminate the law, it is clear that Congress's intent is to reauthorize a modified law. NCLB is a means of holding states, school districts and schools more accountable for improving the academic performance of each student regardless of economic status, race, ethnicity, proficiency in English or disability.
The law requires states to:
- Establish rigorous academic standards.
- Conduct annual assessments at specific grade levels with at least a 95% participation rate.
- Implement a comprehensive accountability system that includes extensive data collection and public reporting on student and school performance.
- Direct formal sanctions against Title I schools and their school districts for failing to meet proficiency targets in reading and math.
- Establish new qualification requirements for teachers and paraprofessionals beyond the standards previously established by many states.
Several areas of concerns have been identified including:
- Different state definitions of "proficient"
- Unrealistic percentage-proficient targets
- Overemphasis on standardized testing and test instruction
- Sanctions that do not help improve schools
- Extra assistance goes to students just below "basic" or "proficient" and not to low-scoring children
- Inadequate federal funding
For more information on the No Child Left Behind Act, go to:
CURRENT STATUS: The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee held hearings on reauthorization of the bill in 2007, and a discussion draft for amending the bill (The Miller-McKeon draft) was developed. However, at the end of 2007 progress stalled, and due to the upcoming elections, it is expected that reauthorization of NCLB will be put off until 2009.
OUR POSITION: The Alliance for Quality Education (AFQE) supports extensive modification of NCLB to address the above issues and other deficiencies in the law.
Contact your U.S. congressmen concerning needed changes to NCLB.
Legislation to establish a state spending cap was considered in 2008 State legislative session. As part of that discussion, the State Chamber of Commerce and others requested the inclusion of local spending caps that would impact school districts and local government entities.
Our local school board is held accountable for the performance of our schools and students. Taxpayers have the ability to elect new board members if they disagree with the way tax dollars are being spent.
Local funding control is already severely limited:
- Under the 2006 Property Tax Relief law, a large portion of the school district's property tax base-the only local source of revenue for school districts-was eliminated.
- Secondly, a cap already exists on school district millage increases and this cap now applies to the smaller property base that remains.
Increases in federal restricted-use funding could force the district to reduce the amount it spends for ongoing operations. Similarly, a cap could limit the district's pursuit of large grant opportunities.
CURRENT STATUS: Consideration of local spending caps did not make it out of the Senate committee in 2008. Its future in the 2009 session is not yet known.
OUR POSITION: The Alliance for Quality Education (AFQE) opposes local spending caps for the reasons stated above.
Contact your representatives in the state legislature to voice your opinion on local spending caps.