Bradley won't seek re-election to board
5/15/2008 12:52 AM   0 comment(s) on this story E-mail this story to a friend

By ROB NOVIT Senior writer
After 16 years on the Aiken County Board of Education - most of them as chairman - Dr. John Bradley won't seek re-election in District 8 this year.
He was elected to the first of four terms in 1992, two years following his retirement after 21 years with the Aiken County School District. Bradley arrived in 1969 as the special programs director and retired as the assistant superintendent for administration.
"I'm sad to be leaving," said Bradley. "I've got 37 years invested in the school district. I wanted to send the word out now because I don't know of anybody who wants to run. I hope somebody good will step forward."
During his employment with the school district, Bradley felt the School Board was often beset by internal strife - so much so that it was an impediment to the district. He chose to run to "try and bring a little more peace and harmony to the board." Seven months after his election, the School Board voted him in as chairman, a position he held until January 2007.
In 1995 Bradley and the board selected Dr. Linda Eldridge as superintendent and "she accomplished a lot" during her 12-year tenure, said Bradley. He's also impressed with new Superintendent Dr. Beth Everitt, who started work five months ago.
For years the School Board was dependent on the legislative delegation for its budget allocations. The district is underfunded today, and Bradley blames that dependency on the lawmakers, who seldom provided tax increases and left the district "way behind," he said.
In 1998 the delegation did agree to relinquish budget control and allowed the School Board to have fiscal autonomy. That made a huge difference in the early part of this decade, when the S.C. General Assembly left the Aiken County School District with a $12 million deficit.
"Fiscal autonomy kept us from sinking," Bradley said. "The tax increases the board has levied have been to keep what we had. It's rare when we've done anything to expand the program. We did reduce pupil-teacher ratios and that required extra money. Everything else has been done because it's required."
At a board meeting Tuesday, Bradley was clearly disappointed over a series of budget cuts the trustees approved to eliminate another large deficit brought on by state revenue shortfalls. Property tax reform has essentially removed fiscal autonomy and left the School Board with almost no options, he said.
The financial situation has become more precarious with rapidly rising construction costs. The district's ongoing five-year building plan, which has served the school system well since the early 1980s, said Bradley, no longer generates enough money to add or renovate schools and pay for cyclical maintenance. He worries that everything the school district has accomplished can be undone by the failure to support public education.
"I feel like it's under assault by some people in the legislature and by the voucher groups," Bradley said. "People are more concerned about saving a couple of bucks instead of building an economic basis that will support us old people. We're dependent on a viable economy and we can't have one without an educated workforce. Never in 37 years in the district have I seen such opposition to public education."
That opposition, he said, is hidden under accountability. People contend that if schools did a better job, everybody could learn. But since 1960, said Bradley, there has been a massive decline in the well-being of children. Many are not prepared for school at ages 4-6 because they come from poverty and don't have adequate health care.
Yet state and federal laws mandate that all children must be on grade level. But every kid can't play varsity football, Bradley said, and there are no allowances for individual differences in academic ability. The school system can't always fix that, he said.
"I hope the next person to take my place will be a strong advocate for public education and be a fighter and keep things moving in a positive direction," Bradley said.
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.

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