South Carolina Schools

    South Carolina jumped three spots to be ranked 29 out of 50 for the 2005-06 in the “Smartest State” rankings, based off of Morgan Quinto’s annual reference guide “Education State Rankings 2005-06.” Quinto rated each state on 21 positive and negative factors—removing spending per student from the consideration and focusing more on student performance and personal attention from teachers.

South Carolina ACT and SAT scores have been raising steadily for the past few years, and the 2006 tests were no exception. About 36% of South Carolina high school students took the ACT and earned an average 19.5 out of 36 on the test—higher than the 2004 and 2005 tests, but well below the national average. The same with the 2006 SAT scores; scores rose from the previous years, but South Carolina was still in the bottom half of the nation.

During the 2006-07 school year, South Carolina will spend $2.3 billion on public education, in addition to the $1.4 billion allotted by the federal government through the No Child Left Behind act of 2001. South Carolina will spend over $7,200 per student enrolled in the 2006-07 school year.

Over 40% of South Carolina students attend Title I schools—schools in low-income areas, or whose main focus is to improve testing scores. These schools receive extra federal funding. For the 2006-07 school year, the Title I schools will split $180 million to fund before- and after-school programs to improve test scores.

In the 2005 testing, South Carolina fell short of meeting the Adequate Yearly Progress requirements by just one objective. As of the publication of this article, the 2006 state report card has not been released.

To view information on a specific district or school, visit http://ed.sc.gov.