Monday letters: SC achievement district could attract great teachers

In her Jan. 19 column, Cindi Scoppe correctly concludes that to move the needle on education — and to comply with the Abbeville decision to provide an adequate education to all students — schools in poor neighborhoods must attract high-quality teachers. Great teachers make an important difference through creative approaches to teaching, passion to guide students to achievement and willingness to deal with the hurdles to learning posed by poverty.

A lack of leadership at the local administrative level can often be the largest barrier to attracting great teachers.

One of the suggestions by the House Education Policy Review and Reform Task Force — creating an achievement school district — keeps quality teachers at its very heart. Through this educational model, a group of struggling schools would receive a blueprint for change. This could include installing dynamic new leaders capable of creating cultural change that attracts excellent teachers.

This must be the year that education takes a major step forward. To learn more about an achievement school district, visit SCAchievementSchoolDistrict.org.

This story was originally published February 1, 2016 at 5:25 AM.