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January 11

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with Mick Zais, a candidate for the State Superintendent of Education.  He is currently the President of Newberry College and is a member of the Commission on Higher Education (CHE).  J.W. introduced him as Brigadier General Zais, but he unpretentiously extended his hand and said, “Hello, I’m Mick.” 

During the conversation he says that he believes in public education and believes it can and should be a part of lifting our economy and children out of poverty.  He feels that we have several high performing schools but wants to make sure that every student in the state has access to a high quality education.  He is a strong proponent of professional development, but wants to make sure that it is effective professional development that affects the students in the classroom.  He stresses the need for stronger principal leadership development and uses the statistic that a “good” principal can make a +15% difference in schools and a “poor” principal can have a -15% effect on student performance.  Therefore he sees a need to improve professional development for both teachers and principals alike.

He wants to increase public school choice reasoning that each child learns differently and has different interests.   He feels that increasing the number of virtual schools and improving the alignment with technical schools are areas he would like to change specifically.  This would align with the recent book that he read, Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education by Terry M. Moe and John E. Chubb. 

He feels strongly that we need to make sure that every tax dollar should be measured against its effect on students.  He considers “Taj Mahal” district offices and school buildings as ineffective use of school district monies when those same dollars could be spent on student material, teacher development, or student/teacher supplies.  He believes that the Return on Investment (ROI) should be measured against student achievement.  When asked about his vision for South Carolina education, he speaks passionately about increasing the graduation rate.  He states that SC is 50th in the United States in graduation rate, and that he wants to change that statistic.

A short pod cast of the candidates that have talked to CERRA about their candidacy can be found at www.cerra.org/podcast.

Take the time to learn more about each candidate and where they stand on issues concerning education.  Determine which one represents views that align with your beliefs for what is best for education, our schools, our workforce, and most importantly our students.  The only thing that is worse than not voting is being an uninformed voter. 

“Votes should be weighed, not counted” -- Friedrich von Schiller