FALL KICK-OFF EVENT

Come join the LWVCA for our September Membership Kick-Off Event at the Grand Renaissance Room at Renaissance on the Harbor condominiums from 6:00pm to 8:00pm on September 14th.

Enjoy refreshments and drinks while you learn more about the League's activities and upcoming events.

FEATURED GUEST SPEAKER: BRIAN HICKS

Brian Hicks, a native of Tennessee, joined The Post and Courier in 1997. He has covered Southern politics for more than 20 years, and his journalism has won more than two dozen awards, including the S.C. Press Association's Journalist of the Year in 1998. His column began appearing on the newspaper's website in 2007 and the print edition in 2008. Hicks' column has won a Green Eyeshade Award from the Society of Professional Journalists as well as Best Column and Best Humor Column honors from the S.C. Press Association. He is also author or co-author of four books, including the local history yarn "Raising the Hunley." His fifth book, "Toward the Setting Sun," was released in 2011. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/BriHicks_PandC.

Directions to Renaissance on the Harbor

Want to join the League prior to this event?

* Print and mail membership info

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2011 Annual Meeting Highlights

Over 70 members and guests gathered at The Point Grill in Mount Pleasant on May 25, 2011, for the Charleston Area League’s Annual Business Meeting and dinner. It was a great time to renew acquaintances and celebrate our accomplishments over the past year as we enjoyed a buffet dinner.

Shown Here the Fortsons, Sakrans, CSOL Students

Oh, yes - there was a little business, too, as members approved the budget and Program of Action for 2011-2012 and elected officers and Board members.

Our Charleston Area League then honored Judge Charlie Segars-Andrews for her exceptional 16 years of service as a Family Court judge, including her outstanding contributions in establishing the first drug court in the state, by presenting her with our first “Spirit of Democracy” Award.

She received a standing ovation from the audience, who had been both enlightened and moved by her presentation titled "The Lack of Judicial Independence in South Carolina" which chronicled her personal experience with the lack of judicial independence in SC. 

Attendees also learned about our statewide project to shine a light on the importance and need for a more independent and diverse judiciary in South Carolina. More information on the League’s efforts to promote diversity in the state judiciary is available at www.lwv.org/fairandimpartialcourts.

More than 60 Attend LWV Teacher Effectiveness Forum

On March 2, more than 60 people gathered at N. Charleston City Hall to be informed by an expert panel sharing their experiences with teacher evaluation at different levels. 

• Dr. Janice Poda, former SC Dept of Education Deputy Superintendent and now Strategic Initiative Director for Education Workforce at Council of Chief State School Officers, presented an overview of teacher evaluations and their challenges.  
• Dr. Fran Welch, Dean of the College of Charleston's School of Education, Health, and Human Performance, spoke about how Colleges and Graduate Programs are preparing teachers to be effective.  
• Judy Hammett, the Executive Director of Leadership Development and a Senior Cabinet Member with the Berkeley County School District, shared Berkeley County's methodology in evaluating teachers and terminating them when necessary.
• Lucy Beckham, Principal of Wando High School and the 2010 MetLife/National Association of Secondary School Principals' National Secondary Principal of the Year, outlined how she values teachers at the classroom level.  

With their experience in the classroom and their years of addressing teacher effectiveness at the classroom and systems level, audience members - several of which were from a class on Current Trends in the Teaching Field at the College of Charleston - quickly saw that measuring teacher effectiveness is an agreed upon need with many factors to consider. 

Luckily, our LWVCA Board has agreed to keep the conversation going. Peggy Huchet, Co-Chair for Education, has created a proposal for the State League to study Teacher Effectiveness, which will be presented at the LWVSC Annual Convention (May 14-15th) in Sumter. We hope LWVSC will adopt the study so we can work together as a state to address this topic. Contact Julie Hussey if you are interested in being a part of the discussion.

Behind the Scenes - Teacher Effectiveness Forum

Last fall, when Susan Milliken suggested that the LWV of the Charleston Area host a forum on teacher evaluation, the Post and Courier had just run a story which rated teacher performance by using posted MAP score results.  It was a hot topic then, and it has only gotten hotter.

In January, Rep. Bakari T. Sellers (D) from Bamberg introduced  Bill 3363 in the SC House to enact the Education Professional Performance and Pay Accountability Act of 2011 which would "require the State Department of Education to create and implement a system for assessing the performance of teachers and other school based staff; to provide a framework for rating teachers and other school based staff based on job function; and to require the department to develop guidelines whereby local school districts shall establish pay plans that offer bonuses to certain highly effective personnel." This bill was immediately referred to the Committee on Ways and Means. 

Then on Feb 8, our State Superintendent for Education publicly stated that he wants to see teacher's salaries based on how much students learn in class as measured by tests taken at the beginning and end of the school year as well as evaluations from students, parents, principals, & fellow teachers - see The State Newspaper - Zais: Overhaul Teacher Pay.

In typical League fashion, we gathered a committee and began to organize.  Sitting at our first gathering, I knew I was in the presence of amazing minds with years of experience working for children. 

Thanks are in order! Thanks so much to Peggy Huchet for a wonderful job moderating the forum; Jane Pulling, who used her extensive education contacts to connect with some great presenters;  Jon Butzon, LWVSC Education Chair, director of the Charleston Education Network, and advocate for improving teacher quality, who kept us on task; Paula Egelson, LWV of the Charleston Area VP for Administration and teacher effectiveness researcher by profession, for her expertise, getting Dean Welch from College of Charleston, and assistance with the reception; Donna Cardarelli, a new area resident and League member, for sharing her experience as a teacher and jumping into the conversation; and finally Susan Milliken, for encouraging us to address the topic.  

We want to keep the conversation going and look deeper at how we can improve education for all children.  If you are interested, please contact Julie Hussey.  

January Water Issues Forum

On January 26, the League of Women Voters of the Charleston Area hosted its first Water Forum – an event focusing on critical water issues impacting the Charleston area. The event was free and open to the public, with approximately 40 citizens in attendance.

The forum featured the following:
1. CAPT John Cameron, Executive Director of the Harbor Pilots Association and former top Coast Guard officer who spoke to the benefits and challenges of dredging the Charleston Harbor.
2. Cyrus Buffum, Director of Charleston Waterkeeper, described the work that nonprofit is doing and how they are working to increase water monitoring in the Charleston Harbor and surrounding waterways.
3. Katherine Zimmerman, a Project Manager with the Coastal Conservation League, who presented the organization’s research on the cruise ship industry and its effects on the environment and communities.


(Water Issues Forum Panel, l to r: Zimmerman, Buffum, Cameron)

The presentations were followed by a Q&A session which included questions from the audience regarding what actions the Charleston area communities and local governments can take and how Mayor Riley’s State of the City might impact these water-related issues.

Our next public forum will be Tuesday, March 22, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. The focus will be on Teacher Effectiveness -- stay tuned for more details!

Future Voters Ride in MLK parade

If you haven't ridden in at least one MLK parade with the League, you're missing out. Don't get me wrong, it's no Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, but the camaraderie is something special. The spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. seems channeled into the parade-goers, and as League members and their kids pile in a truck we've adorned in red, white, and blue, our own League pride starts to swell.



This year, the parade ran like clockwork... we started right on time (indeed so early that members had to run to catch up with the "float"!) and progressed through the parade route waving our "Vote" signs, MLK posters, and American flags in just over an hour.

Our favorite part? Parade organizers (probably intelligently on their part) don't allow candy to be thrown from vehicles, so the League hands out "Future Voter" stickers to hundreds of kids (and a few sticker-loving adults!) along the route.

We left feeling great about the role the League plays in the Charleston community, and the next day, got a gratifying surprise when Post and Courier photographer Wade Spees' picture of Leaguer Rose Davis was featured in the paper's MLK Day special section:



Rose's smile says it all!

August 26th: Women's Equality Day Celebration

The LWVCA will be celebrating this year's Women's Equality Day, which marks the 90th anniversary of both the League of Women Voters and the ratification of the 19th Amendment that extended voting rights to women, with a special dinner event beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday evening, August 26, 2010, at the Town and Country Inn & Conference Center. Inez Tenenbaum will be the keynote speaker. We will also be honoring eight Elected Women of Distinction from the tri-county area, and introducing the winners of our Girl Scout Poster and Essay Contests.

Tickets are $60 per person and may be purchased online. The proceeds will support the League of Women Voters of the Charleston Area, which educates tri-county citizens on public policy issues and encourages informed and active participation in government through voter registration and non-partisan candidate forums. Several local businesses and organizations have shown their support by sponsoring the event, and additional sponsorships are still available. We're looking forward to a once-in-a-decade celebration with our community in August!