The trend today is for parents to become involved in their child’s education. To have a say.
Congress is preparing to pass the parents’ bill of rights to reinforce this idea. Seems that parents have been shut out for so long that they now are clamoring for a seat at the table - to develop the curriculum, to decide on books, to determine the proper way to teach math, to oppose diversity and empathy training.
Well, here’s what you can do parents, Right Now. Help your child study for the SAT.
Sit your child down in a well-lighted, distraction-free zone of your own home, turn off tik-tok, and assist in their studies. This is your involvement, and it’s not even taking anything away from teachers - they welcome your instruction and assistance. Model SATs are available on-line, so you can read the study questions and engage your child in studying for this highstakes test.
Your child will thank you for it.
Here’s something I found interesting about the SAT, a standardized test with its own baggage for racial and other social bias: South Carolina is ONLY 20 points behind the national average score. You might say “20 points, that’s a lot” but consider where our state has been. We are #35 among the 50 states in this score - at 1030 - with super-rich Wisconsin leading at 1252. To me, this is remarkable considering the under-funding of education and the over-criticizing of teachers carried on by our State Government.
We have never fully funded public education. And we never will. We are more concerned with choice.
Given that environment, our Public School students who take the SAT have done a remarkable job staying within striking distance of the national average. Of course, our state’s score could be bolstered by super-smart Private School and Charter School and Home School test-takers but those are not the majority of SAT test-takers in South Carolina, I would venture to say. Public Schools accept and test EVERYBODY - as they should, they don’t have the luxury of cherry-picking students they want. Nor should they. They are all-inclusive.
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Vic MacDonald is Editor of The Clinton Chronicle. He did fair on the SAT prior to his graduation from General William Moultrie High School in Mount Pleasant in 1971. In June, 2025, Vic will observe his 50th year in community journalism. Reach him at 864-833-1900.
