School Consolidation Opponents Gain Steam

The grassroots group that opposes school district considation in South Carolina is picking up steam. 'Support Our Local Voice in Education,' or SOLVE, met in Woodruff, Spartanburg County District Four, to rally parental support for leaving the districts as they are.

State Senator Ralph Davenport, R-Spartanburg, has proposed district consolidation which would reduce the county's districts from 7 to 4 in a supposed attempt to save money.

However, descrepancies in the dollar amounts that would supposedly be saved have raised serious questions about the proposal. Davenport stated that consolidaton would save 23 million dollars for Spartanburg County. But the Governor stated that the entire state would save only 21 million--and even that figure is disputed by the District Superintendents.

Steve Parker, who spearheaded SOLVE, maintains that in large, consolidated districts the supposed savings are gobbled up by the extra administrative costs. The mammoth Greenville County School District, for example, was forced to hire several 'duputy superintendents' with large salaries to serve under the senior District Superintendent.

In addition, Parker is adamant that larger consolidated districts are notoriously slow about responding to parental concerns.

The Parker group has seemingly hit a nerve among many parents in Spartanburg County, who have packed the two meetings held by SOLVE thus far.

In fact, many parents are outraged that such consolidations can occur by simple legislative action without any input from those effected by the change.