Columbia, SC—The South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jaime Harrison issued the following statement ahead of Governor Nikki Haley’s speech tomorrow in Washington, D.C.
“Today The State issued a shameful report on the current state of school transportation for students across South Carolina. The report found 1,776 bus routes exceed 90 minutes one way, including 953 routes for special-needs students. This means many students, including the very young and those with special needs, spend up to three hours a day on a school bus, missing out on valuable time spent with their families, doing homework, or participating in extracurricular activities. This is a problem across South Carolina, but rural school districts are hit especially hard.
“Time and time again Governor Haley and the Republican-led state legislature have failed to lead on key investments that would bring about long-term growth for South Carolinians. Governor Haley has slashed education funding, failed to fix our deteriorating roads, and refused to expand Medicaid which would give hundreds of thousands access to healthcare. She even exaggerated the number of welfare recipients who found employment under the welfare-to-work program.
“Tomorrow, Governor Haley travels to Washington, DC to rewrite her record in South Carolina while our children will spend hours traveling on outdated buses and crumbling roads to poorly funded schools. While she’s speaking about leading “the new south”, South Carolina children and working families are falling further and further behind.”
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