Never before has it cost so much to produce so little ... at a time when the state of South Carolina (and the taxpayers who support it) can ill afford to waste a penny.
In the worst economic year since the Great Depression, South Carolina's public schools received a record $8.4 billion in government funding - a 4.5% increase from the previous year.
That boosts per pupil funding in the Palmetto State over $12,000 for the first time in state history, although less than half of that money is actually making it into the classroom.