Summer music. youtu.be/lhlV6zTYL3Q

A local Moms for Liberty chapter’s unsupported claims about the national school counselors organization have been amplified by state officials. The SC Department of Education has evidently removed state counselor standards from its website in response. (PragerU materials are still on the site.)

Hey, look! I got a professional reviewer* to write an analysis of the cop show** I soundtracked starting in the late 1970's. He let me re-post it in celebration of the soundtrack to the movie being on Bandcamp today! * fictional ** fake otherduties.substack.com/p/beachcop?f...

The State Board of Education has called on Beaufort Schools to reconsider book challenges it previously considered. The Board is hearing public comment now. m.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6E...

The ACLU of South Carolina had the privilege of hosting two legal interns this summer. Today on the blog, we’re highlighting their contributions and asking them to share a little bit about what they learned. www.aclusc.org/en/news/meet...

Anyone a #bird #goose or #swan expert know what species this lil chunky beauty might be? I’ve seen three of them on my ride to and from work … and I’m obsessed. There’s usually another gaggle of Canadian Geese (also obsessed) hanging around too. Just makes my day to see them!

South Carolina becomes the nation’s top book banner.

The SC Board of Education is about to come out of over 2 hours in executive session. Presumably they were discussing or receiving legal advice about 43-170, the book ban regulation. Live stream will be here: ed.sc.gov/state-board/...

how your email finds me:

The question we must really ask ourselves is whether we are free to hold and espouse ideas with which the administration disagrees? It would increasingly seem that the answer is no. — Derek Black, professor, University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/o...

The SC Senate is currently discussing S. 62, the private school voucher bill. 1/ www.scstatehouse.gov/video/chambe...

Tomorrow @caseythehuman.bsky.social and @nuzum.bsky.social are playing a songwriters show in Columbia, Sc. Today is the last day to get a ticket for $10, they go up tomorrow. If you have $10 and are free tomorrow, come hang out! www.eventbrite.com/e/uncle-fest... #folk #americana #columbiasc

Highlights from yesterday’s SC State Board of Education meeting.

"There seemed to be a shift in the South Carolina Board of Education." South Carolina leaders pumped the brakes on banning 10 books yesterday. The writer and longtime educator Steve Nuzum sums it up here: otherduties.substack.com/p/ten-books-...

Updated and de-paywalled this piece from August 2023 because it seems to have new resonance. open.substack.com/pub/otherdut...

The House Education and Public Works Committee was just gaveled in. They will be discussing a major amendment to the anti-diversity H.3927, which has not been shared with the public. There will be no public comment. 1/

I was very tired when I first wrote, so here’s a slightly expanded and updated version. SC is banning books statewide, and the committee responsible for those bans seems disinterested in hearing from the public or in considering the books, themselves, beyond lists of naughty words from BookLooks.

"Once the funds were distributed, the state had little way to be sure parents were spending the money appropriately, the oversight committee’s report found."

The House is in session and will be discussing S.62 soon. (Thread.) 1/

The amendment to require that private schools receiving public funds honor IEPs is tabled after a motion from Erickson. Green votes voted *against* further debate or votes on the bill. 20/

The current amendment requires that private schools receiving voucher funds adopt “an open admissions policy.” Erickson moves to table. Vote below. 29/

Collins argues against the bill, starting with the clear constitutional issues. 46/

A response to a recent op-ed from a member of the state book removal committee and a M4L-endorsed school board member.

A rundown of yesterday’s debates on the neo-voucher law, brought to you by @protruthsc.bsky.social.

Excited to be discussing Derek Black’s new book with the author tonight at All Good Books. allgoodbooks.com/events/18226...

The House EPW Committee will discuss vouchers today. The meeting will be 30 minutes after the House adjourns (which w expect to be around 11:30 AM). Join us in Blatt Room 110 to pack the room or watch online. www.scstatehouse.gov/video/stream...

Today, the South Carolina State Board of Education voted to ban four books from all state schools, despite passionate testimony and a packed room of people defending the books. The four books were Flamer, All Boys Aren’t Blue, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Push.

Black History is South Carolina history, American history, world history, our history. It is under attack. Defend it this month and every month.

The *Red State Strategy* deployed by the voucher lobby has been v effective at expanding vouchers. Problem is 1) reliance on billionaire $ & 2) involves circumventing growing # of anti-voucher voters in GOP's own ranks. IOW an odd definition of *populism* educationwars.substack.com/p/how-school...

Last year, school boards across Tennessee - including in the reddest parts of the state - passed resolutions opposing school vouchers. That infuriated the pro-voucher folks and their donors. Which is why teachers can only get raises if local school boards support vouchers

The voucher bill S.62 got to a second reading yesterday. One of the more contentious debates was apparently on whether to make them universal. (Universal vouchers programs are currently costing states like AZ billions.)

A federal lawsuit from NAACP legal defense fund lawsuit challenges SC’s Budget Proviso 1.79, which includes language (adapted from a Trump administration executive order banning federal diversity training) included in the budget each year since 2021. 1/3 www.naacpldf.org/press-releas...

I’ve made a starter pack for artists in Columbia, SC. Check it out! Let me know if you’d like to be added or share accounts to add. #sodacity #sodacityarts #columbiasc go.bsky.app/82ndDJk

Amazing how quickly we went from *dissolve the Department of Education* to use federal power to pursue a petty, vengeful and unpopular agenda. Even at the height of the anti-CRT panic cutting funds to schools was deeply unpopular w/ the public /1

Please register for our February 13 online Joint Meeting with @freedomtoreadsc by using the QR code in the image below, or this link: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Today in the newsletter:

The evidence against vouchers also has the markers of a good scientific literature: 1) Clear identifiable pattern (larger, newer voucher systems —> worse results) 2) Replicated by: multiple research labs (teams) and in multiple field sites (states). 3) Results hold over time.

In “The Other America” (1967), Dr. King said, “…Somewhere we must come to see that social progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals…” 1/2

Many GOP legislators really do want to protect public school funding—and avoid a bad voucher vote against their communities. But national lobby $$ have squeezed them into impossible spots with billionaires, their governor, and small but 💯 voucher-focused parts of their caucus.

The state department of education, in making this decision, is siding with a guy who is a defendant in not one, but two lawsuits against local teachers for defamation. Bravo, SCDE, great company and support of your educators.