Governor Mark Sanford has been all over the news this past month for his anti-stimulus position. Since governors are responsible for applying to receive the federal stimulus money allocated to their state, Gov. Sanford claimed he would reject the $8 billion that was slated for South Carolina – which, by the way, suffers from the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation- and only accept the money if he could use it to pay off state debt. This would be instead of spending it to create jobs, invest in schools, and help lift the people of South Carolina out of this economic downturn, hence the term “stimulus”.
Alas, after a heated debate, Gov. Sanford finally receded and was the last governor to accept the federal stimulus money. However, he is still contesting the $700 million required for investment in education, which will save teachers from layoffs and renovate crumbling schools. It is this specific investment that he now wants to trade off to alleviate state debt.
Well, Casey Edwards, a high-school student, decided there is no trade off when it comes to the future of her and her fellow students. Edwards is taking her future into her own hands and filing a lawsuit asking the S.C. Supreme Court to decide who – Gov. Sanford or the Legislature – will control whether the $700 million goes to schools or not. This brave Chapin High School student is apparently not about to sit back and have someone else take away funding that was specifically allocated to help her and thousands of students across the state.
Edwards has been involved in helping needy schools in the past by fund raising and campaigning to improve the S.C. education system. This activism came after seeing a documentary on the poor conditions of schools along the Interstate 95 corridor in her state. She says her school district- Lexington-Richland District 5- is already laying off teachers, including one that tutored her to improve her math score.
Read more about the lawsuit and Recovery fund issues in South Carolina: