Equity Project Recruits Local Educators

The Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM) is participating in a national study related to equity and culturally responsive teaching practices and seeks the professional expertise and experience of local educators.

“To know how to support our educators, we have to have a clear understanding of their baseline knowledge and experience with culturally responsive teaching practices. Having insight from Spartanburg County educators will help inform additional work at the local, regional, and national level,” explains Savannah Ray, Director of Educational Engagement & Partnerships.

Ray is also serving on the StriveTogether Racial and Ethnic Equity Action Team working at a national level to assess needs and available resources for advancing equity. Understanding the background teachers have in culturally relevant teaching practices will help the team develop guidance for local, regional, and national efforts to improve equity.

All educators completing the project and its post-survey will be entered in a drawing to win one of 5, $100 Visa gift cards. The deadline for gift card eligibility has been extended through Sunday, August 30.

This effort merges SAM’s commitment to equity in education and continuous improvement practices while supporting the identification of quality resources to support classroom educators.

Local educators must follow these three steps to participate and be entered to win the $100 Visa gift cards.

Participation in three easy steps:

(1) Please take a pre-survey here.

(2) Review the selected professional development module from Teaching Tolerance for individual use (one hour) here.

(3) Take a post-survey here.

All who complete the post-survey will receive the notification of drawing winners.

For questions, contact Savannah Ray.

Know where we stand!

During yesterday’s press conference at Hampton Park Christian School, Governor McMaster stated that "education is the most important thing we do in South Carolina, or anywhere else." We wholeheartedly agree. However, his decision to allocate $32 million—67% of his $48 million of CARES Act relief discretionary funds—toward private and religious schools undermines his words. To say we are disappointed is an understatement.

The Governor’s Safe Access to Flexible Education (SAFE) grants are nothing more than an executive branch voucher scheme. For years, special interests have worked to advance private school voucher programs through the General Assembly under the guise of Education Scholarship Accounts. These voucher programs rob public schools of necessary funding, produce—at best—no gains in academic achievement, and reallocate public dollars to a system that lacks significant accountability and transparency.

Simply put, SAFE grants will not serve the state’s most vulnerable children. Just 5,000 vouchers are available to families living at up to 300% of the federal poverty level ($78,600 for a family of four), an incomprehensibly expansive definition of poverty given that a staggering 180,000, or 23%, of our most vulnerable students live at just 100% of the federal poverty level ($26,200 for a family of four). Second, transportation to and from these schools remains an insurmountable barrier for many, particularly in rural areas. Lastly, though this is hardly a comprehensive list of the many ways in which this voucher program is problematic, those 180,000 children will likely find it impossible, despite a $6,500 voucher, to cover the total cost of attending many of the state’s most successful private schools.

Despite the fact that the General Assembly has not funded public schools at the level required by law in over a decade, the Governor took advantage of a global pandemic to advance this unpopular, highly partisan program. For the second time in a week, our leadership invoked our most vulnerable and at-risk students and families in the name of a political agenda that has, time and again, turned a blind eye to the evidence-based tools they need to succeed.

The money Governor McMaster just gifted to private schools would have gone a long way toward helping our high-poverty districts and schools provide nurses, social workers, and counselors to address the social and emotional needs with which our students will no doubt arrive at school this fall. Educators have rightly demanded this support: they know we can’t educate our students if we aren’t able to meet their most basic needs. Rather than use every available resource to aid our districts in their return to school this fall, the Governor elected to fund a political experiment.

Make no mistake: privatization efforts couched in the language of equity are part of a larger, well-organized effort to destabilize public education. If we underfund and ridicule and stigmatize our public schools enough, we create a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure from which only the school choice proponents can “save” us. This executive action today lays the groundwork for future legislative attempts to preserve and expand private school voucher programs in South Carolina.

We say enough is enough.

92% of school-aged children in South Carolina depend on public schools. The Governor’s action today robs the many to benefit the few. We pledge to channel our disappointment by doing everything in our collective power to defend and elevate South Carolina’s students, teachers, and public schools.

SAM is part of a coalition of nonprofits joining across SC in support of public education. Our group includes: Public Education Partners in Greenville, Richland County Public Education Partners, South Carolina Future Minds, and the Southern Education Foundation, and fellow StriveTogether network member Tri-County Cradle to Career. Each of our organizations is led by boards of business and community leaders focused on supporting public education and the equity in opportunity it provides all children and families across South Carolina. 

Our partner in advocacy, PEP Greenville has created this Action Link that will facilitate your effort to reach out to legislators with your opinion: https://publicedpartnersgc.org/take-action/#/11 

We encourage all to stand with our public schools!

Dr. Russell Booker to Lead the Spartanburg Academic Movement and Developing Chamber Initiative

Press Release: June 3, 2020

Spartanburg, SC – Upon his retirement as Superintendent of Spartanburg School District Seven, Dr. Russell W. Booker will begin two new influential roles within the Spartanburg community.

Dr. Booker is slated to become the Executive Director of the Spartanburg Academic Movement and, under his newly founded agency One Acorn, has been hired as the Diversity & Economic Inclusion (DEI) Consultant for the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce.

In April 2019, Dr. Booker announced that he would retire at the end of the 2019-2020 school year and has spent the last year considering his next professional steps.

The Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM) Board of Directors voted unanimously to appoint Dr. Booker to the position of Executive Director upon the retirement of Dr. John Stockwell at the end of August. Dr. Booker will begin his new role on September 1, 2020.

“Russell serving in these capacities for Spartanburg is a perfect fit,” said Jennifer Evins, SAM’s Board Chair. “He is a person with knowledge, experience, and passion, but most of all, he’s a man with heart for this community. SAM and all of Spartanburg will benefit greatly from all he has to offer from these new leadership roles.”

In addition to his new leadership role with SAM, Dr. Booker and his wife, Sheryl, are launching One Acorn, an agency that helps organizations, individuals, and communities fulfill the “potential within” through enlightened, authentic, values-based leadership. One Acorn will launch later this summer to provide training for educational leaders, organizational management expertise, diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, and customized speaking engagements – all centered on the importance of collective impact.

Beginning August 1, under One Acorn, Dr. Booker will lead diversity and economic inclusion efforts for the Spartanburg Chamber, implementing a diversity and economic inclusion strategic plan that is currently under development.

“We must do more to address our community’s economic disparities,” said Allen Smith, President & CEO of the Spartanburg Chamber. “Dr. Booker will drive bold DEI outcomes across the County." 

As a nationally recognized leader, Dr. Booker is lauded for reaching across the community to advance creative and collaborative partnerships. His vast experiences in multiple settings have uniquely positioned him to help organizations and individuals realize their purpose and fulfill the potential within. Dr. Booker has served on the SAM Board of Directors since the organization’s inception eight years ago, providing incredible insight as the organization builds partnerships and initiatives to support cradle-to-career educational achievement using the StriveTogether model of community impact. 

“I am excited to shift from a school-centric focus to a comprehensive people- and place-based focus,” said Booker. “I am especially eager to continue serving exceptional school districts and higher education institutions while engaging stakeholders to provide connections to our growing business and industry sectors. Just as an acorn contains a mighty oak, we believe that everyone holds powerful potential. We envision a unified community striving for a just society.”

Dr. Booker’s collaborations with both SAM and the Spartanburg Chamber represent a growing synergy for community advancement. With his wealth of experience and passion for equity, Dr. Booker believes in working collectively to remove divisive barriers and committing to a true inclusion agenda.

“As I enter this next phase of life, I do so with a great sense of appreciation, responsibility, and obligation to my hometown,” Booker said. “I feel blessed to be an essential part of these two associated efforts, and I look forward to the courageous work we will embark upon in the days ahead.”

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A message from StriveTogether President and CEO Jennifer Blatz, discussing how this leadership change will continue to build SAM’s presence within the national movement to improve outcomes for children.

About Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM)
The Spartanburg Academic Movement is a nonprofit organization and a community movement working to convene action partners in the effort to improve economic mobility across Spartanburg County, anchored in academic achievement. For more information visit www.learnwithsam.org.  

About Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce
The Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce is a private, non-profit organization supported through membership investment and strategic partnerships. Our mission is to enhance the economic vitality and lifestyle environment of Spartanburg County. For more information, visit www.spartanburgchamber.com

About One Acorn
Launching late summer 2020, One Acorn is an agency that helps organizations, individuals, and communities fulfill the potential within through enlightened, authentic, values-based leadership. Founded by Russell and Sheryl Booker, One Acorn provides training for educational leaders, organizational management expertise, diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, and customized speaking engagements – all centered on the importance of collective impact. Just as an acorn contains a mighty oak, we believe that everyone holds powerful potential. For more information, visit: www.oneacorninspires.com

THE TIME IS NOW

The time is now, the task is vital. SAM encourages all citizens to exercise their right and privilege to:

You've probably heard: 2020 is an election year! 

This election (and every election), public education is on the ballot. From your local school board to the State House to the White House, candidates are vying to be decision-makers when it comes to our public schools. 

In South Carolina, that's a big commitment.

• 92% of our state's children rely on public schools. 

• K-12 public education funding makes up 38% of the state's General Fund budget. 

• Public schools employ 53,000 full-time teachers and tens of thousands of librarians, custodians, bus drivers, principals, counselors, and social workers.

Because we believe our elected officials should not only cherish but champion South Carolina's public schools, the Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM) has joined Public Education Partners  Greenville County, Richland County Public Education Partners, Tri-County Cradle to Career Collaborative, and SC Future Minds in launching the Vote Public Education SC campaign. 

Our goal is to encourage folks to head to the polls for the June 9th primary and the November 3rd general election - especially our educators - with public education top of mind. Be sure to follow our organizations on social media to stay in the loop as we engage future policymakers around the needs of our students, teachers, and public schools. 

SAM offers this guide for how Spartanburg County residents can access polls and absentee ballots* and even see a sample ballot for your voting precinct. We ask voters to research candidates and make informed decisions as a public education voter 2020!

One last thing: we invite you to pledge to be a public education voter in 2020 by clicking the link below. After, please share the pledge with your colleagues, friends, and family and encourage them to #VotePublicEdSC too!

Pledge Link

See you at the polls!

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*Governor Henry McMaster enacted legislation allowing all SC citizens the right to use absentee ballots for elections held in June.