Movie Night for USC Students

SOCY 340 Students,

One of our class members, Julia, has kindly brought it to my attention that the campus group EMPOWER is showing the film "Corridor of Shame" on campus tomorrow (Thursday) night. This is an amazing documentary that walks you through the halls of some of the crumbling educational infrastructure of our state. If you have ever asked yourself "how did someone make it through high school without using a computer?" or "why are high school dropout rates so high?" - you must see this film.

The EMPOWER group is showing the film from 7pm to 8pm in the Honors Residence B110 (click here for a campus map) in a session called "Diversity Dialog."

Do I need to offer extra credit to convince you to go? Ok, fine - I will. If you go see the film and write up a 200 word reaction paper to the film (Q: How did watching the movie change your perspective on education in SC?) then you will receive 25 points of extra credit. (HEY! That's a much as a whole quiz!)

If anyone else knows about events like this, let me know ahead of time so I can offer them to the class.

College Costs Creep Upward

Credit: NY Times

A recent New York Times article describes how the cost of attending college has risen many times faster than the average income of the U.S. family. Since a college degree is often considered the base-level requirement for entry into professional career, are we closing doors of opportunity by out-pricing the middle class?

For those of you who are college students now, did you have conversations about the cost of attending, taking on personal debt, or establishing a budget before you started college?

New Child Poverty Data

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has just released its latest data about measures of child poverty in the U.S. Notable facts about children in SC:

• Percent of births to single mothers: 45.4%
• Percent of births to mothers with less than high school education: 23.9%
• Number of children living in poverty: 258,848 
• State rank for key indicators for children: 45th

These numbers certainly seem to be daunting and the state rank gives us a sense of context (relative to other states) BUT...

What do these numbers and rates really mean? Are these problems increasing or decreasing in intensity? You can follow this link and read for yourself how these numbers compare with measures from previous years.

Public Protest of Rejected Education Funds

Just a brief follow-up from last week's entry about the state rejecting $143 million in federal education funding. On my way in to campus, I saw a group of people in front of the Rutledge Building off Bull St. Always interested in a good social movement, I drove by and saw these protesters...

SC Rejects $143 Million in Federal Bailout for Public Schools

For those of you interested in inequalities in local education, this recent decision to refuse $143 million in federal aid for public schools may be worth looking into.

South Carolina Turns Down $143 Million in Public School Funding - The State

Examine the dynamics between the political systems and the educational systems in the state. Why do you think that state officials are unwilling to accept the funding, citing concerns with federal involvement with state affairs?