Anderson Observer Information

The two remaining candidates Kathy Maness and Ellen Weaver, offer stark contrasts in both experience and approach to the position. There is a reason State Education Superintendent Molly Spearman is endorsing Maness, the longtime teachers' advocate in the race to be the next leader of South Carolina's K-12 public school system. Spearman, who is not seeking a third term, and who will be missed, said she supports Maness because of her experience in the classroom, knowledge of the state's diversity/disparities as well as her understanding of the political process that funds and sets education policy. Maness, who serves as executive director of the Palmetto State Teachers Association, has been advocating for teachers at the Statehouse since 1993 and has built professional connections with legislators, a key element to success. "She is definitely the most experienced and is fully qualified, no question," Spearman told The Post and Courier earlier this month. "The things that are important to me: She's a teacher. She knows the legislative process," said Spearman. "She's been probably in more schools than I've been in. The part I think is really, really important is that overall knowledge of South Carolina and an appreciation of the rural versus urban, the world-class versus struggling." Maness faces Ellen Weaver, director of the Palmetto Promise Institute, a conservative think tank founded by former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint in Tuesday's runoff elections. In addition to Spearman's words of support for a candidate with extensive public education experience, there are other fundamental reasons for voting for Maness. Unlike her opponent, Maness has all of the baseline qualifications for the office, including a master's degree, something Weaver lacks. Weaver has said if she wins the primary, she will have a master's degree before the November elections. Such a statement is not only somewhat dubious, but an affront to higher education. After an extensive online search, no higher education institutions with a five-month ...