Letter to the editor: Elected officials not taking care of school district employees
The state of public education in Sumter County, with 14,000 students in Sumter School District (SSD), is not good. Restrain respect and trust from elected officials have been disruptive to the mission accomplishment of the SSD. Poor morale by teachers and support staff, low and failing academic test scores and high rate of discipline problems are expected outcomes in an unsupported environment.
Management and leadership training received by military leaders (in all branches of service) stress the importance of the morale and welfare of their subordinates. The adage is, "Take care of your troops, and they will take care of the mission."
The recent article in The Sumter Item on Dec. 8, 2023, titled, "Teacher pay is more a recruitment issue than retention challenge" is enlightening. The article further states, "State researcher says environmental factors weigh more in educators leaving districts and profession."
Let's evaluate some environmental factors in SSD that influence the decisions of educators to come or not come to Sumter County. First, let's look at some reasons for not wanting to work in the SSD. The SSD is rated in the bottom 25 percent of all public schools in South Carolina. The academic test scores in reading and math are far below state standards. Only one school is rated Excellent and two are rated Good. All other schools are rated Average (23), Below Average (3) and Unsatisfactory (6). Sadly, R.E. Davis College Preparatory Academy, which was to model the academic standards for all middle schools, is an Unsatisfactory school. The three high schools, the final chapter before entering the workforce, are Below Average (Sumter and Crestwood) and Unsatisfactory (Lakewood). Finally, support staff employees (bus drivers) had to go on strike for an increase in wages. However, students are still late for school.
The SSD has a recruitment and retention problem because the elected officials (state, county and SSD trustees) are not taking care of the employees (troops). Consequently, low morale is resulting in low student academic achievement and low mission accomplishments. Factually, public education in Sumter County is inadequate.
EUGENE R. BATEN
Sumter County Council, District 7