Schools forced to choose between funding and freedom
S.C. schools are being forced to choose between state funding and academic freedom, according to The State.
State House members voted to not restore funding taken from two colleges for assigning books with LGBT themes to incoming freshmen. Though it was later withdrawn, one lawmaker proposed keeping $1 million from public schools in S.C. until they banned “pornographic content.”
After the College of Charleston assigned “Fun Home,” a novel that discusses the author’s sexual orientation, State Rep. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown, supported removing $52,000 from the school budget for next year.
“There are times either side can trample on freedoms of anybody,” Goldfinch said. “This book trampled on freedom of conservatives.”
Lawmakers move to separate elections and voter registration boards
Now that Richland County lawmakers have moved to separate the merged elections and voter registration boards, they plan to ask the county to provide legal representation, according to The State.
After the 2011 law that joined the two offices was declared unconstitutional, the move would clarify how the offices should be set up.
“The delegation has made the decision that it is going to happen, and we’re moving to go to court to make sure it is done according to the way the court has required us to do,” state Rep. Joe Neal, D-Richland, said last Friday. “It’s my understanding we need a court order.”
There were two different boards when the two offices were separate from one another, but if they are re-established, it is unclear who would serve on which.
Wofford, Coastal Carolina find out NCAA locations
The two S.C. colleges playing in the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament have found out the locations of their matches, according to WLTX-TV.
Wofford College is the No. 15 seed in the Midwest Region and will play Michigan State University Thursday in Milwaukee, Wisc.
Coastal Carolina Uniersity, the 16th-seeded team in the East Region will play the No. 1 seed University of Virginia in Raleigh, N.C. Friday.
Wofford and Coastal Carolina are the only S.C. schools to competing in the tournament after both won their conferences’ tournaments.