South Carolina
Governor Mark Sanford has been making a lot of people –
including the state legislature and an 18-year-old high school
student – unhappy for the past few months with his refusal to
accept $700 million in federal stimulus money.
More than 80 percent
of the $350 million that the state was offered for the coming fiscal
year (which starts on July 1) must be spent on public education,
including both K-12 and colleges. The other $350 million would become
available the following year.
Chapin High School
senior Casey Edwards tried to take Gov. Sanford to the state Supreme
Court last month for turning down money that she thought the state’s
school systems desperately needed.
"When the
federal government is offering money to our state, I didn't
understand why we were going to turn that down," Edwards said.
Gov. Sanford (R) called Edwards’ lawsuit "politically-driven press
spectacle ... rather than a suit with any actual merit.”
Interestingly enough, the student’s father, David Edwards,
described his daughter as politically conservative.
Still, Sanford
refused to take the money unless at least half of the available funds
went toward paying off state debt.
The White House and the South Carolina legislature disagreed, as did
state Education Superintendent Jim Rex. "This isn't an economics
class. It's real life, and real people are hurting,” he said,
pointing at that many South Carolina teachers were losing their jobs
and effective programs were being cut.
Edwards, inspired by
a documentary by Bud Ferillo called "Corridor
of Shame: The Neglect of South Carolina's Rural Schools,"
has been working with friends over the past year to help schools
along I-95, many of which are either straddling or well below the
poverty line. The high school student raised $10,000 for a
Dillon County elementary school selling Chick-Fil-A sandwiches; the
school used the money, which the school’s principle, Bobbie
Walters, called “an answer to a prayer,” to buy a much-needed
copier.
Unfortunately for
Edwards, the Supreme Court ruled that it could not hear her case,
which would have attempted to give the state legislature power to
bypass Gov. Sanford and take the stimulus funds; the Court
stated that the legislature first had to take action to spend the
money. Even so, the Supreme Court’s decision left the field open
for a second court case, of which the governor and legislature, who
overrode the governor’s budget vetoes on Wednesday, both hope to
take advantage.
According to South
Carolina legislators, refusing the money would mean a bleak future
for the state’s schools, which would likely have to lay off as many
as 3,000 teachers.
Still, the governor
tried in a statement to play himself up as a benevolent caretaker.
According to Sanford, he was "looking out for school children
who will be forced to pay back the so-called stimulus bill."
Few are convinced,
however, and the fight between governor and legislature rages on –
not a good start for Sanford, who some speculate may
run for President in 2012.
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