The State Superintendent of Education has duties outlined in the South Carolina Constitution, including serving as administrative officer to the state board of education, having general supervision over and management of all public school funds provided by the state and federal governments, and keeping the public informed as to the problems and needs of the public schools by constant contact with school administrators and teachers.
In this episode, we talk with the three candidates for SC Superintendent of Education: Lisa Ellis, Patricia Mickel, and Ellen Weaver. This is the only state-level office included in this election year’s episodes.
Produced by The Greenville Podcast Company. Simple Civics: Greenville County is a project of Greater Good Greenville.
Transcript
Katy Smith
The State Superintendent of Education has a number of duties outlined in state law including serving as administrative officer to the State Board of Education, having general supervision over and management of all public school funds provided by the state and federal governments, and keeping the public informed as to the problems and needs of the public schools by constant contact with all school administrators and teachers. We’ll link the full code of laws on the State Superintendent of Education in the show notes. There are three candidates for State Superintendent of Education on the South Carolina ballot, Lisa Ellis, Patricia Mickel and Ellen Weaver. We are pleased to bring all three of them to you in today’s episode of Simple Civics. We’ve also put links to their websites on the episode page. Our format is the same for each candidate. Each has 10 timed minutes to respond to the same three questions. If they have more than a minute left after their last response, they’re invited to share any additional information with you listeners. They were allowed to bring a guest along and to record the session themselves. No edits were made to any of these episodes. We appreciate each of them taking the time to share their message with you, our listeners. First up alphabetically is Lisa Ellis.
Katy Smith
I’m pleased to be joined by Lisa Ellis, candidate for State Superintendent of Education. Thanks for joining us, Lisa.
Lisa Ellis
Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to be here
Katy Smith
Well tell us about yourself and why you decided to run for South Carolina Superintendent of Education.
Lisa Ellis
I am born and raised in South Carolina. I got my bachelor’s degree from College of Charleston, it was an English with a minor in Spanish, got my first master’s degree from Clemson University, in Forest Resources Management and recently got a second master’s from Columbia College in organizational leadership, which shouldn’t be a big deal except for it is in this particular race because of the qualifications. I’ve been in schools for 22 years, this is my 22nd year teaching. I’ve worked in three school districts and four schools, middle school and high school. And I love teaching. I love working with students, I love seeing their growth. And about four years ago, I started a closed Facebook group called SC For Ed to fight for really to build as a community for teachers, because it is such a such a profession that is isolating. And it turned into a grassroots advocacy movement with the intention of placing a high quality teacher in every classroom. And that’s really gave me the push to run for Superintendent of Ed, because I have seen that the policies that are being implemented are not in the best interest of our students and not in the best interests of teachers. And so my goal for running for Superintendent of Education is to put that teacher voice at the table to make sure that we’re doing what is in the best interest of our students in South Carolina.
Katy Smith
Thank you, how does your professional and personal experience make you a good candidate for this office.
Lisa Ellis
So I think my personal experience has been where I have have focused on public education for my career. I’ve had the opportunities to travel just through work, but also just see different school systems. I spent two summers teaching in Uganda, which is a country in Africa and learning their school systems. And just doing my own research. From a professional level, I think being in schools has been critical to see the evolution of our public school system in South Carolina. I can remember, you know, my first years teaching 22 years ago, and it was a very different environment, teachers were trusted, you know, you had support from parents overall. And you just had less what we call micromanaging. Because again, you have that, that trust in teachers and over my career. So I’d say in the last 20 years, that has really changed, and it’s changed because of federal laws like No Child Left Behind. And now Every Student Succeeds Act, and pushed in that, that pressure to really perform academically. And so seeing that change. And the result of that is not been an improvement of academic performance for the most part, but also it has led to teachers leaving and thus creating larger class sizes, creating more work for teachers, and really moving that that teacher burnout up much quicker in somebody’s career. So seeing that day in and day out and being a part of that I think gives me a good perspective of how we can make things better in South Carolina. I think that, you know, bringing that teacher voice and giving teachers and school professionals, you know, the platform to speak about these issues and talk about, well, if this is the policy that you want past, here’s what it looks in my classroom and bringing those conversations together, I think we can really work to improve public education in South Carolina, a lot quicker than we have in the past.
Katy Smith
Thank you. What do you think are the biggest issues in education in our state, and what is something that the State Superintendent of Education has the power to do to address them?
Lisa Ellis
The biggest issue is teacher recruitment and retention. And so you’re gonna hear, you know, all of these other issues, but really, the biggest one, and the one that we need to address hardest and quickest is getting teachers back into the classroom and encouraging them to stay there. When you look at you know, things like our academic achievement, things like school safety, issues, like mental health, and all of those, what we call wraparound resources, they are ineffective if you don’t have adults in the building. And when I talk about recruitment and retention of teachers, really, I’m talking about any person that interacts with students on a daily basis, so that would include bus drivers. That would include cafeteria workers, that would include instructional assistants. And those are the people that we’ve got to get in the building to help solve all of the other problems. But until you get highly qualified teachers and support staff into the building, then we’re going to going to continue to have all of these sorts of second place issues that we’re you know, that we can’t address because we don’t have the adults there. When you talk about, you know, academic achievement, if you have a first grade teacher who has 30 kids in her classroom, that’s just classroom management, that’s not helping students learn to read. And so we’ve really got to work on that issue. And the role the State Superintendent of Education can do is really working on the working conditions for that, you know, the salary piece is always determined by the General Assembly and the Superintendent of Education has the ability to influence salary increases, but the superintendent can quickly address working conditions, and look at some of those mandates or interpretations of state law and ask the questions if those are really working to help recruit and retain teachers. And I would argue that we’re still, even though we’re in 2022, you know, well, into the 21st century, we are still holding teachers accountable for 19th and 20th Century Teaching models and standards. And that’s not in the best interest of our students. And it’s not in the best interest of our teachers who are trying to meet the needs of this particular population, but are hindered by mandates and, you know, other interpretations of law that prevent them from really helping their students become great citizens.
Katy Smith
You have a little bit more time. Is there anything else you’d like to share with our listeners?
Lisa Ellis
Yeah, I think that it’s really important that the, you know, citizens of South Carolina, focus on education is the one issue to really lift up our state. When you think about all the things that are affected by our public education system, you know, whether it’s children being taken care of during the school day, or grandchildren, or nieces and nephews, or neighbors, or if it’s providing a quality workforce for our small businesses, and our, you know, large organizations to find, you know, highly qualified employees, all of it comes back to that pillar, that is public education. And we have to really start investing in our students, because they are the future of our south of South Carolina. And I think that South Carolina is really a great place to live. But we’re not doing right by our students and providing them this high quality education, providing them the opportunity to really grow and prosper. And you do that through public education. So whether or not you know, you have to students directly in public schools, it does affect you. And so my hope that, you know, when people go to vote this October or November, that they will really think about the impact that public education has on their own lives, and put elected officials in charge who are going to really support and fight for a robust public education system.
Katy Smith
Well, Lisa Ellis, thank you for your time, and we look forward to seeing your name on the ballot on November 8.
Lisa Ellis
Thank you so much.
Katy Smith
Next up is Patricia Mickel.
Katy Smith
I’m here with Patricia Mickel, and I appreciate you joining us today. Patricia, let’s start by having you tell us about yourself and why you decided to run for State Superintendent of Education.
Patricia Mickel
Well as you stated, well, first of all, let me say thank you for the opportunity today. And as you stated, My name is Patricia Mickel, I grew up in Chester County. So I went to public school attended to graduated public school. I meet the qualifications, according to the state, in order to run for state superintendent. I have my masters plus 30. I decided to run not as a decision based on my part, but because I was approached by the Green Party. And probably like a lot of your listeners, they may not be familiar, or understand what the Green Party is, and what they represent. Or the Green Party represents equal justice for everybody, no matter your socio economic status, your demographics, a fairness for everyone. So when I was approached by them, and they was like, because they had known that I had been a teacher for years, they was like, you know, model is not running, we think that you will be a great fit. And it actually took me some time and contemplating to make sure that this is something that I will be good at. And this is something that I will be willing to do. And after I thought about it, and I started contemplating, I said, You know what, I feel that I have just a great chance as anybody else. And this will be a great opportunity for me to touch more than just the kids in my neighborhood, or in my district where I’m most currently teaching, this would be the opportunity for me to try to help every child. So with that being said, I decided to throw my name into the hat. And to see how far this little underdog can go. Being that I’m not with one of the major parties. So I am Patricia Mickel, and I am on the ballot for South Carolina Superintendent of Education.
Katy Smith
Thank you. How does your professional and personal experience make you a good candidate for this office?
Patricia Mickel
Well, what makes me a good candidate. Teaching has always been a passion and a desire of mine. The first book I can remember reading was Dick and Jane see Spot Run. So from that book, I started making my attendance roll with Tim jam, three letters, four letters with a max. And I will sit my baby dolls around the table, and I would teach them and say Okay, today we want to have a spelling test. Today, we’re going to fill in the blanks. So I’ve always had that passion for teaching, I’ve always had that passion for helping others, kids have always held a special place in my heart. And I just want the best for them. So when when I say that to say, I’m running, because I want to make a difference, no matter whether you’re in the inner cities, or in a rural area, I think every child should have the same resources, and share the same opportunities. I think that you should, if you if you look at our vocational school, our Career Centers, a lot of them start in high school. I think if we start them early, in middle school, so once they finish high school for those individuals that do not want to go on to higher ed, because everybody may not want to be college ready to go to college, they can also be career ready. So if we can start maybe in middle school, doing something with the vocational or the career centers early, maybe when they graduate they’ll have some type of skill, or an Associate’s where they can then get a job. You know, nothing wrong with working in fast food, but we want to our children, not if you want to work in fast food, that’s good. But let’s see if we can own a fast food chain, you know, we need to have our kids thinking a lot bigger on a bigger spectrum. So with my parents and presence, I’ve been a mentor for right moves for youth. I’ve been over the youth group at church. So I’ve done a lot of things in the community for the youth, and the children are our future. So therefore, that’s why I my path, and my present is why I feel that I would be a great candidate for this position. And also that I’m a great listener. I believe in having committees, I believe in having panels where I can hear some superintendents and teachers and parents and even the students if need be. I want to make myself very accessible for anyone to feel that I’m approachable and that they can come talk to me.
Katy Smith
Thank you. What do you think are the biggest issues in education in our state. And what is something that the State Superintendent of Education has the power to do to address them?
Patricia Mickel
Well, right now, our biggest issue in this state, is pay for the educators. And I know with me being the next superintendent, I would have to work closely with legislators. We need to increase teacher’s pay anywhere from 10 to 15, maybe even $20,000, in order to be competitive, in order to show the teachers that they have the respect that they deserve. As far as their pay scale, you have a lot of teachers who are working two to three jobs and not having time to spend with their families, their loved ones, so we need to pay them because teachers teach everybody, so we need to pay them what they’re worth. And that being said, I want to start when they when they start the intern or doing practicums maybe having some type of paid interms of pay practicums as long as they agree to enter the educational field. To me, that is the biggest, the biggest threat facing this, but teachers are not just leaving the education because of the pay. They also leave in education, I feel because of the lack of respect that they’re getting within their four little walls called the classrooms. Sometimes you have administrators who don’t support the teachers. And I want to make sure that every administrator has the training that they need, so that they can be supportive of their faculty and staff. Sometimes you have kids that are very disruptive, you send them out, they send them back, and you’re looking like oh my goodness, what’s going on. So the lack of support that teachers feel that’s another reason why teachers are leaving. So the teacher retention along with the pay, those to me will be the biggest two issues that we need to face in this state of South Carolina. But before I end up, I also noticed that, you know, there has been a lot of calls made this past week to so many districts in the state of South Carolina. And with that being said, I have to allow the police the opportunity to do their job to investigate these calls. And so hopefully that they can punish these criminals to the max for these threatening calls. And for the lack of safety that they’re given to our schools. I will want our students to have clear bookbags I want metal detectors. And hopefully, a resource officer can be in every school, if not two resource officers can be in every school. Those are the things. So with teachers pay and safety for our children, because that is our prized possession are the babies. Our children. So teachers safety and safety for the children and educators, those will be my two major problems that I would love to tackle and be able to face as your next Superintendent of Education for the state of South Carolina.
Katy Smith
Thank you, Patricia, we have a little bit of time left. Is there anything else you’d like to say to our listeners?
Patricia Mickel
When you go to vote, if you would like to cast a vote for me, Patricia Mickel, you must look for my name. So if you want to vote for me, my name is Patricia Mickel. M I C K E L. My website is Mickelforeducation.com. Vote for me, the underdog. Let’s show them that we can turn this state around. But we can only do it together. Thank you.
Katy Smith
Thank you so much for joining us, Patricia and for being willing to serve our state and we look forward to seeing your name on the ballot on November 8.
Patricia Mickel
Yes, and thank you so much for having me.
Katy Smith
Last up alphabetically is Ellen Weaver.
Katy Smith
Well, I’m so pleased to be here today with Ellen Weaver candidate for South Carolina Superintendent of Education
Ellen Weaver
So great to be with you, Katy.
Katy Smith
Thank you. My first question is to tell us about yourself and why you decided to run for this office.
Ellen Weaver
Absolutely. Well, I am a Greenville native was actually born here. My dad’s family is from Greenville. I grew up in the Midwest, which is where my mother’s family is from and I got back to South Carolina as fast as I could. Went to Bob Jones University. And while I was there at Bob Jones, I actually ended up interning for then Congressman Jim DeMint, who was our fourth District Congressman at the time, and so I ended up working with Congressman then Senator DeMint for about 12 years. So between his Greenville office, his Washington office, and then his Columbia office, which is how I ended up where I am now, which is Palmetto promise Institute. It’s a nonprofit public policy organization. And this has really been my front door into the education policy world, into the world of education specifically here in South Carolina. I’ve also been very proud to serve as the first female chair of the Education Oversight Committee, which is a legislative agency in Colombia that reports on the data and the performance of our students across the state. And so in that position, as well as in my work at Palmetto promise Institute, and with Senator dimmit, I’ve had a really unique opportunity to build relationships with people who matter in this process, who are able to actually get things done. I also have had a front row seat to many of the state level dysfunctions that we see within our education system. And so that’s really my passion for running for this job is I want to tear down those obstacles for our teachers, for our parents, for our administrators who are actually on the ground, doing the hard work. And in order to support them, you have to know how the process and the system works. And so this was an unexpected journey for me to be sitting across this table from you today running for State Superintendent of Education. But I truly believe that this is something that I was called to do, I feel very passionate about doing. And something that I think is a unique opportunity for me to offer the skills that I’ve been able to hone over the last two decades of my career in service to the students, the teachers and the parents of the state.
Katy Smith
Thank you. How does your personal and professional experience make you a good candidate for this office?
Ellen Weaver
Maybe I guess I kind of anticipated that question. I’m sorry, I got ahead of myself just a little bit. But again, you know, the job of State Superintendent of Education is a is a huge job, I am running to be the chief executive of a multibillion dollar state agency, there are almost 1000 employees that I will be directly responsible for at that State Department. And that doesn’t even begin to cover all of the 1000s and 1000s of people who work in education in districts across the state, as well as our you know, 800,000, almost 800,000 students that we have here in South Carolina. So this is a massive undertaking, that requires executive leadership experience. And, you know, I’ll just address it head on. Many people have said to me, Ellen, we’re concerned because you haven’t taught in a classroom. And that is true. Our classroom teachers have a calling. And I greatly respect and admire the work that they do on the frontlines of education all day with those students and with their parents. But I also know that not every position on a team requires the same skill set. And so while I’m not gifted to be a classroom teacher, I have been privileged in my career, as I outlined, to have the kind of executive leadership experience that it takes to run a multibillion dollar agency to manage people. That’s what I did in a Senate office, I managed a large staff large budgets. On the education oversight committee, I have been responsible, again, for overseeing big important projects that impact the future of education in this state. And so I think that my skill set, it makes me really the only candidate in this race who is qualified to actually do the job of superintendent. To me, the job of superintendent is really about being the quarterback of our education system, the person who is getting up every morning and saying, what do we have to do to move the ball down the field for South Carolina students and teachers and parents today, and then going out and building the team that it takes to actually get it done. Because as much as I’d like to sit here and tell you that as state superintendent, I can just wave a magic wand and do everything that needs to be done, that wouldn’t be truthful. You have to be able to work with people. And in Colombia, that means you have to be able to work with the governor, you have to be able to work with the members of the General Assembly. And that’s what I’ve spent the last 10 years of my life doing is building those trusted relationships that it takes in order to move the conversation forward, because we’ve talked for years about the problems in our education system. But it seems like we haven’t actually made much progress. I’m tired of talking and ready to start doing. And that’s, I think, the unique skill set that I bring to this job.
Katy Smith
Thank you. Well, what do you think are the biggest issues in education in our state? And what is something that the State Superintendent of Education has the power to do to address them?
Ellen Weaver
That’s a fantastic question. And I’d like to start by just thanking superintendent Spearman for the hard work that she has done over the last eight years, the last three years of which have been almost unimaginable what she has endured what all of our educators and families have endured during COVID. She has done some really incredible things to bring common sense to streamlining administrative overhead and some of the rural districts in South Carolina. Through the consolidation process, she also has been very thoughtful about how we strengthen the security in our schools. Again, if our students and our teachers aren’t safe, nothing else really matters. And so I want to continue that great work that she has started with that school safety continue to work with Governor McMaster and the General Assembly, who have also been champions of this and ensuring that we have a school resource officer in every single school in South Carolina, thank goodness when we had that shooting here in Greenville at Tanglewood, that there was an SRO on the scene immediately. Who knows what could have happened if they had not been there. And so we still have a few 100 schools that need SROs, I’m going to finish that job. I also think that we have got to simplify and streamline our funding formula. This is something that I have worked on for the last six years at Palmetto promise Institute. And the reason that that matters is that that is how we get dollars out of duplicative bureaucracy, and back into classrooms where we can actually pay teachers more and support students. And so the General Assembly this year in the state budget has made a great first step, a down payment on that process, we have more to do. But that’s something that again, as state superintendent, I will work closely with the governor and the General Assembly to promote. The last thing that I’ll share is really something that is very near and dear to my heart. I grew up as a reader. My great grandma was a teacher, my mom and my grandma were voracious readers. And I inherited their love of reading and reading has really been my pathway to success, I didn’t grow up in a wealthy family didn’t have anything handed to me. So really, education was my front door to my own American dream. And there are so many students across our state who don’t have the basic literacy skills that they need to be successful in life, almost half of our students are not reading on grade level. And so you’re going to see a huge push from the State Department of Superintendent Weaver, around the idea of early literacy, and how we support our teachers in the proven science of reading to ensure that every single one of our students has that foundation that they need in order to be successful, not only in their later academic career, but in their life. We have so much opportunity here in this state. And you know, our state report card ratings just came out today, I’m pleased to tell you that we have at least made progress to get back to where we were in many areas before the pandemic hit. But we were behind before the pandemic. So we have a lot of work to do, if we are going to support our teachers in the way they need to be supported. And if we are going to help our students acquire the skills that it takes for them to reach their full God given potential.
Katy Smith
Thank you very much. We have a little bit more time anything else you’d like to share with our voters and listeners?
Ellen Weaver
Well, I’m just so incredibly honored to be able to appear on this podcast in my hometown. Greenville has such a special place in my heart. And there is a unique energy here in the Upstate, a can do attitude. Our downtown was built by public private partnerships. And I think that that’s what we have got to focus on in education moving forward is how do we create those collaborative partnerships that we’ve been we’ve seen be so successful in building Greenville to rebuild our schools, and it’s my honor to ask your listeners for their vote. You know, I always always have to remember that that’s what this is all about, at least in the short run is asking them for their vote on November the eighth, I’d be honored to have their support. I believe truly in my heart that I am the only candidate who is qualified to do the job that this superintendents role requires. But it’s not just their vote on November 8, I need their help afterwards their volunteerism in our schools, because it’s truly going to take all of us if we are going to save education in South Carolina.
Katy Smith
Well, Ellen, thank you so much for joining us and we look forward to seeing your name on the ballot on November 8.
Ellen Weaver
Thanks Katie. Great to be with you.
Catherine Puckett
Simple Civics: Greenville County is a project of Greater Good Greenville. Greater Good Greenville was catalyzed by the merger of the Nonprofit Alliance and the Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy. You can learn more on our website at greatergoodgreenville.org This is a production of the Greenville podcast company.
