A college wants to expand its truck driving program. Public schools and a youth organization want stable funding. State retirees want the state to pay for their health benefits.

The Vocational Rehabilitation department doesn't want to be restructured. University students want a former president to pay a visit. And a local man wants an appointment to a trustee board.

All brought their requests to Monday's meeting of the Orangeburg County Legislative Delegation, the day before lawmakers headed back to Columbia for the start of the legislative session.

"States have started to play around with retiree benefits" in the way private businesses have done, Oscar Butler told the delegation.

He thanked the delegation for their continued support for retired state employees, particularly with regard to health care.

Butler also called for improved public education to keep youths out of "these new industries called prisons."

Dr. Kalu A. Kalu, chairman of the Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5 Board of Trustees, asked the legislators to "put more money in the four-year-old program." That will give children a better chance to succeed in the middle grades, he said.

Echoing those thoughts was Melvin Crum, the past board chairman. "Early childhood education has been the key to success of the children in our district," he said.

Crum added that it's important to keep the pupil-teacher ratio below 20 to 1 in the lower grades, for the sake of the teachers as well as the pupils.

"Those little minds are like engines, running all day long," Crum said. If they're not steered in productive directions, they are prone to get in trouble. So a teacher has to stay with his or her class all day; "they don't get a break."

Crum expressed concern about proposals to rely more on sales taxes to pay for public education.

Public school officials are "comfortable" with the property tax because they understand how it works, Crum said.

"We're certainly fearful with anybody tampering with our revenue stream," Crum said. "When a politician tells you to trust him, it puts a little fear in you."

He said proposals to "put parents in charge" are misleading. "Parents are in charge" already; "this is tax legislation," he said.

Crum invited the lawmakers to "call on us if we can help" by testifying in committee hearings or providing data or insight into educational issues.

"We know our legislative delegation is pro-education," Crum said.

Agreeing, Sen. John W. Matthews Jr. -- a retired principal -- said Crum and Kalu were "preaching to the choir." Matthews said he appreciated their offers of assistance.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, praised Consolidated 5's fine arts program as a "model" program. She said research has shown that the arts play an important role in the overall academic experience.

Joseph C. Sanders introduced himself. He is a candidate in a four-way race for a seat on the South Carolina State University Board of Trustees. Sanders resides in Matthews' Senate district and Cobb-Hunter's House district. Cobb-Hunter said she will support Sanders.

 

SCSU students plan to invite Jimmy Carter

South Carolina State University's Student Government Association has met its goal of raising $40,000 for a Habitat for Humanity house, SGA President Matt Kimbrough said.

"As students leaders, we're stepping up to the plate" to promote civic improvement, he said.

Ground will be broken Feb. 11 for a house on Maple Street in Orangeburg, Kimbrough said. Construction should take about eight weeks.

Former president Jimmy Carter will be invited to serve as the keynote speaker at the dedication ceremonies, Kimbrough said.

He asked the delegation to write Carter a letter encouraging him to accept the invitation. Matthews said the delegation would support the effort.

Kimbrough, a senior biology major, hails from Americus, Ga., which is just up the road from Carter's tiny hometown of Plains.

Carter is a prominent supporter of Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian organization that has built homes for hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

 

OCtech envisions transportation program building

Dr. Anne Crook, president of Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, thanked the local lawmakers for their previous support, including $2 million for a science building now under construction.

"Success brings success," she said. "I can't help but come back to the trough."

She said the college's truck driving program produced 112 graduates last year -- more than a fourth of the total produced throughout the state technical college system.

Still, "we've got waiting lists" of students, and employers are lining up to hire them at beginning salaries in the low $30,000s, Crook said.

The college is looking to expand into refrigerated tanker repair work as well, she said.

Noting nearby SCSU's emphasis on transportation studies and local economic planners' visions for a distribution corridor, Crook said, "We'd like to be the transportation center of the state's technical colleges."

But it would take another building, which carries a $1.3 million price tag. Crook assured the lawmakers she could get an economic development grant for 60 percent of that cost if the Legislature provided the rest.

Tuition and fees would make the program self-supporting with regard to operational costs, she said.

Crook also said if the lawmakers support the state technical college system's request for $15 million to increase the number of graduates in medical fields. Hospitals and other interested parties would match it.

About 80 percent of hospital workers receive their training at technical colleges, Crook said.

Crook asked the lawmakers to provide full funding to implement the Education and Economic Development Act.

She said the college recently sponsored an all-day workshop with representatives of each of the districts in Orangeburg and Calhoun counties to discuss how best to implement the requirements of the EEDA.

Crook said a "virtual high school" is in place, serving adult education and credit recovery students, and asked lawmakers to continue to support the initiative.

Crook submitted three other requests in writing, publicly giving no details except to say that two have to do with the state education lottery.

 

Boys and Girls Clubs expanding

Of the state's 60 Boys and Girls Clubs, four are in Orangeburg County and they serve more than 300 youths a day, Willie Booker said.

He thanked the legislators for providing money for the clubs for the past three years, and asked them to continue that practice.

A new Boys and Girls Club will open soon in the Eutawville area, Booker said.

Cobb-Hunter said she will meet with interested residents at 11 a.m. Monday at the Elloree Town Hall to discuss how a vacant school building can be used as a center for youths, senior citizens and/or the community at large.

 

Council: Name interchange for senator

County Council Chairman John Rickenbacker thanked the lawmakers for allowing the local-option sales tax. "It's making a tremendous impact on the quality of life for our citizens," he said.

He called attention to a resolution County Council passed last week, asking that the Legislature name Exit 159 off Interstate 26 at Secondary 36 in honor of Matthews.

"We're going to do more than take it under advisement: we're going to go ahead and do it," Sen. Brad Hutto told Rickenbacker.

 

Voc Rehab exceeds goals

Ivory Cantey said the Vocational Rehabilitation Center in Orangeburg, which also serves Bamberg and Calhoun county residents, sees 45 to 60 clients on a typical day and has nearly a thousand clients overall.

He said the center has consistently exceeded its goal of placing at least 272 clients into competitive employment.

John Sandifer, who became the center's manager six months ago, introduced himself and thanked the business community for its high level of cooperation with the agency.

Lawmakers praised the agency for, as Matthews put it, "helping those who need it the most."

Cantey expressed his relief that the Legislature did not approve a plan last year to merge Vocational Rehabilitation with services for the blind.

The lawmakers advised Cantey to be vigilant because the plan might reappear this year.



Delegation votes In business matters, the delegation:

 

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