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South Carolina school board elections, 2014
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A total of 23 South Carolina school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections in 2014 for 95 seats. Kershaw County School District held its election on June 10, 2014. The other 22 districts held elections on November 4, 2014.
Here are several quick facts about South Carolina's school board elections in 2014:
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- 77.89 percent of the incumbents whose seats were on the ballot ran for re-election in 2014, and they retained 62.11 percent of the total seats up for election.
- A total of 34 newcomers were elected to school boards in South Carolina. They took 35.79 percent of the total seats in 2014, which was lower than the 38.19 percent of school board seats that went to newcomers nationally.
- The largest school district by enrollment with an election in 2014 was Greenville County School District with 71,930 K-12 students.
- The smallest school district by enrollment with an election in 2014 was Anderson School District One with 9,246 K-12 students.
- The Beaufort County School District had the most seats on the ballot in 2014 with seven seats up for election.
- The School District of Oconee County had the fewest seats on the ballot in 2014 with two seats up for election.
The districts listed below served 491,536 K-12 students during the 2010-2011 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.[1] Click on the district names for more information on the district and its school board elections.
State profile
| Demographic data for South Carolina | ||
|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 4,894,834 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 30,061 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 67.2% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 27.5% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 1.4% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 5.3% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 85.6% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 25.8% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $45,483 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 22% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in South Carolina. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
South Carolina voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in South Carolina, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.[2]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. South Carolina had five Retained Pivot Counties, 2.76 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More South Carolina coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in South Carolina
- United States congressional delegations from South Carolina
- Public policy in South Carolina
- Endorsers in South Carolina
- South Carolina fact checks
- More...
Academic performance
- See also: Public education in South Carolina
| Education terms |
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| For more information on education policy terms, see this article. |
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NAEP scores
- See also: NAEP scores by state
The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Compared to three neighboring states (Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee), South Carolina has the smallest share of fourth grade students who scored at or above proficient in both math and reading.[3]
| Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013 | ||||
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| Math - Grade 4 | Math - Grade 8 | Reading - Grade 4 | Reading - Grade 8 | |
| South Carolina | 35% | 31% | 28% | 29% |
| Georgia | 39% | 29% | 34% | 32% |
| North Carolina | 45% | 36% | 35% | 33% |
| Tennessee | 40% | 28% | 34% | 33% |
| U.S. average | 41% | 34% | 34% | 34% |
| Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014 | ||||
Graduation, ACT and SAT scores
The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for South Carolina and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[3][4][5]
| Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores* | |||||||
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| State | Graduation rate, 2012 | Average ACT composite, 2012 | Average SAT composite, 2013 | ||||
| Percent | Quintile ranking** | Score | Participation rate | Score | Participation rate | ||
| South Carolina | 75% | Fourth | 20.2 | 57% | 1,436 | 64% | |
| Georgia | 70% | Fifth | 20.7 | 52% | 1,452 | 75% | |
| North Carolina | 80% | Third | 21.9 | 20% | 1,479 | 62% | |
| Tennessee | 87% | First | 19.7 | 100% | 1,709 | 8% | |
| U.S. average | 80% | 21.1 | 1,498 | ||||
| *Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation). **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express | |||||||
Dropout rate
- See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states
The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–11 and school year 2011–12. The event dropout rate for South Carolina was lower than the national average at 2.8 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 2.5 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[6]
See also
| South Carolina | School Boards | News and Analysis |
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Footnotes
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed March 21, 2014
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
- ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Dropout and Graduation Rate Data File, School Year 2010-11, Provision Version 1a and School Year 2011-12, Preliminary Version 1a," accessed May 13, 2014
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