Think about our future

Those who have children in Aiken County Public Schools will find a difference this year. They will not be going to schools on Monday to pick up their children's report cards. That was one of the things cut out of the school year in order to save money.

The parent-teacher conference day was eliminated as one of the five furlough days for teachers and one of the 10 for administrators in Aiken County. Instead of teachers meeting with parents on Monday, providing valuable information about the progress of students, the schools of Aiken County will be dark with doors locked.

The furloughs, of course, were created by a shortfall of funds from Columbia as the weak economy saw expected revenue to the state tumble as the recession worsened. Local school districts had to make difficult decisions. Among those made locally was to adopt furloughs rather than risk the chance that layoffs would have to be made.

South Carolina is far from alone in its educational plight. Hawaii recently enacted 17 days of furloughs, which will reduce from 180 to 163 the number of school days for children. At a time when students need to be spending more hours in the classroom to reach international competencies, Hawaii's children will be going to school just four days a week for the remainder of the year.

As legislators prepare to go back to Columbia in January for discussions on how to fund the state budget, education should be in the forefront. The future of South Carolina depends on the educational attainment of today's students. Paying for less now will give them less of a future.