In affiliation with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

TheSecretary'sCorner

OPINION: Is this the way to transform struggling rural schools?

Originally posted May 24, 2018 at The Hechinger Report.
When students understand what and why they are learning
While serving as U.S. Secretary of Education in the 1990s and early 2000s, and previously as Governor of South Carolina for eight years, I saw the devastating impact of under-funded and under-resourced rural schools, especially in high-poverty communities.
Unfortunately, at least for some children in the South, those conditions haven’t changed much.
That’s one of the reasons a different approach to teaching and learning caught my attention several years ago. My visit to New Tech High School in Napa County, California, during the 2008-09 academic year was the start of an important journey for me that eventually would have an impact on students in my home state and beyond.
Read the full post at The Hechinger Report.

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June 3, 2018 Secretary's Corner

What Matters Now: A New Compact for Teaching and Learning

On August 10th, 2016, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) released the report What Matters Now: A New Compact for Teaching and Learning.
What Matters Now makes a compelling case for changes to the current education system in order to educate all students well. By documenting systemic issues, such as teacher turnover and a burgeoning student achievement gap, the Commission points out that there is new knowledge and research that supports developing a system that is more flexible, innovative, and customized.
“To prepare our students for the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century, we must design our schools to energize and excite our students regarding the importance of learning. This calls for in-depth, collaborative teaching in healthy, safe, and sustainable schools organized for success – both in terms of architectural design and curricular engagement,” said The Honorable Richard W. Riley, Co-chair of NCTAF and former U.S. Secretary of Education under President Bill Clinton. “Such an environment is essential for our students to learn the necessary academic and so-called 21st-century skills – creativity stimulated by the arts and music, teamwork, […]

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August 11, 2016 Secretary's Corner

Secretary Riley Celebrates HEA 50th Anniversary

On October 26th, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU), the LBJ Presidential Library at the University of Texas at Austin, and Texas State University hosted an event in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Higher Education Act.

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October 30, 2015 Secretary's Corner

Charting a better way forward for South Carolina after church killings

On the evening of June 17, 2015, a hate crime took place at a Wednesday prayer meeting at Mother Emanuel AME Church near Marion Square in Charleston.
The absolutely horrid nature of the crime, the cold-blooded assassination of innocent people solely because they were black — all under the ideology of white supremacy — shocked us all. It tore at the social fabric we all depend on to carry out our daily lives in a civilized way in our communities and our country. And it is this kind of senseless crime, shaped by racism and fueled by hate and hate talk, that our state must confront in a common sense and deliberate way.

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July 8, 2015 Secretary's Corner