{"id":6961,"date":"2023-02-14T14:22:47","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T14:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education\/?page_id=6961"},"modified":"2025-02-19T16:27:01","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T16:27:01","slug":"a-peoples-movement-a-playbook-that-takes-a-fresh-look-at-the-1984-education-improvement-act","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/public-education-initiatives\/a-peoples-movement-a-playbook-that-takes-a-fresh-look-at-the-1984-education-improvement-act\/","title":{"rendered":"<i>A People&#8217;s Movement<\/i>: A Playbook That Takes a Fresh Look at the 1984 Education Improvement Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/196\/2023\/05\/Screen-Shot-2023-05-16-at-3.12.13-PM-e1684415933833.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7115\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-7115 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/196\/2023\/05\/Screen-Shot-2023-05-16-at-3.12.13-PM-e1684416234913-768x693.png\" alt=\"A cover of &quot;A People's Movement,&quot; a book detailing key lessons from the South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984. Pictured on the cover is a child's hand holding a bright apple against a white background.\" width=\"300\" height=\"271\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/196\/2023\/05\/Screen-Shot-2023-05-16-at-3.12.13-PM-e1684416234913-768x693.png 768w, https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/196\/2023\/05\/Screen-Shot-2023-05-16-at-3.12.13-PM-e1684416234913-1024x924.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/196\/2023\/05\/Screen-Shot-2023-05-16-at-3.12.13-PM-e1684416234913-512x462.png 512w, https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/196\/2023\/05\/Screen-Shot-2023-05-16-at-3.12.13-PM-e1684416234913-1280x1154.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/196\/2023\/05\/Screen-Shot-2023-05-16-at-3.12.13-PM-e1684416234913.png 1345w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/271;\" \/><\/a>About the book<\/h3>\n<p><em>A People\u2019s Movement: How a team of state and local leaders mobilized the grassroots, transformed public education, and lived to tell the tale\u2014and how you can, too<\/em> shares relevant lessons from the South Carolina Education Improvement Act (EIA) of 1984, one of the nation\u2019s most ambitious state-level legislative reform initiatives, widely acknowledged as one of Governor Dick Riley&#8217;s greatest achievements.<\/p>\n<p>The book takes a fresh look at the EIA, a bold education reform effort championed by a broad coalition built by Riley to address the state\u2019s low academic achievement and lagging economic competitiveness. Authored by Robert Saffold, <em>A People&#8217;s Movement<\/em> offers lessons and strategies relevant to today\u2019s policymaking.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Notably, the book includes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>25 key policy \u201cplays\u201d that generated widespread, bipartisan support and set an ambitious, comprehensive agenda for large-scale reform and are applicable to today\u2019s political landscape.<\/li>\n<li>Perspectives of 27 leaders involved in the passage and implementation of the EIA, captured through extensive oral history interviews and reflected both in the synthesized narrative and in the accompanying direct, colorful, and often humorous quotes.<\/li>\n<li>A thoughtful narrative that captures the realities of enacting large-scale reform and achieving the art of compromise, as well as how South Carolina arguably made greater gains in public education than any other state in the nation in the years after the EIA was enacted.<\/li>\n<li>Historical photos that capture the momentum Dick Riley and his coalition built around the EIA.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The book is available for purchase at the bookstore on Furman&#8217;s campus and online on <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Robert_Saffold_A_People_s_Movement?id=_0HREAAAQBAJ&amp;hl=en_US\">Google play<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Early praise for\u00a0<em>A People\u2019s Movement<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder [Governor Dick Riley\u2019s] leadership, the Education Improvement Act set a new standard for bringing together coalitions of parents, policymakers, politicians, educators, business leaders, and more on behalf of South Carolina\u2019s children. As a native South Carolinian, I cannot thank him enough for improving the education status of South Carolina\u2019s children and documenting how we got there. I hope this playbook will now serve as an inspiration for the new kinds of strong leaders and broad partnerships our children desperately need today in every state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President Emerita, Children\u2019s Defense Fund<\/p>\n<p><strong>Press coverage\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>The Statehouse Report<\/em> \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statehousereport.com\/2023\/01\/27\/brack-new-playbook-offers-strategies-for-legislative-success\/\">New playbook offers strategies for legislative success<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Southern Education Foundation \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/southerneducation.org\/resources\/blog\/2023\/02\/03\/honoring-richard-riley\/\">A former education secretary\u2019s legacy, hopes for the future<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Greenville Journal<\/em> \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/greenvillejournal.com\/community\/riley-institute-releases-book-on-groundbreaking-education-improvement-act\/\">Riley Institute releases book on groundbreaking Education Improvement Act<\/a><\/p>\n<p>KnowledgeWorks \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/knowledgeworks.org\/resources\/lessons-sustainable-policy-change-peoples-movement\/\">Lessons for Sustainable Policy Change<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Errata\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For a list of corrections related to the book&#8217;s contents, visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/public-education-initiatives\/errata-a-peoples-movement\/\">errata page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>About the South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984<\/h3>\n<p><span id=\"page40R_mcid295\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">&#8220;The Education Improvement Act was widely hailed as <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid296\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">one of the most successful comprehensive education <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid297\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">reform initiatives of the past several decades. The gains <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid298\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">made in public education were tremendous, sweeping. <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid299\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">EIA-driven initiatives raised average SAT scores by <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid300\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">35 points and for African American students by 69 <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid301\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">points, caused public school enrollments to increase <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid302\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">by 15,000 students and private school enrollments to <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid303\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">drop by 5,000 students, increased basic skills across the <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid304\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">state, drove a 25<\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid305\" class=\"markedContent\"><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid306\" class=\"markedContent\"> <span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">percent drop in absenteeism, garnered <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid307\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">South Carolina recognition as one of the top six states <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid308\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">in achievement growth in that time, and much more. <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid309\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">But the development, passage, and implementation of <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid310\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">the EIA, while obviously centered squarely on public <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid311\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">education, stands today as a model of how to craft and <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid312\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">pass legislation aimed toward comprehensive reform <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid313\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">in any area of public policy, in any broad and sweeping <\/span><\/span><span id=\"page40R_mcid314\" class=\"markedContent\"><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">approach to advancing a public good.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">\u2014 <strong>Terry Peterson,<\/strong> <em>Chief Education Officer to Governor Richard W. Riley at the time of<\/em><br \/>\n<em>EIA passage and a chief architect of the EIA effort<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>&#8220;A Man of the People&#8221; event<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;A Man of the People: Dick Riley and the Passage of the EIA,&#8221; a celebratory program that launched <em>A People&#8217;s Movement<\/em> and took a look back at the Education Improvement Act was held on Furman&#8217;s campus on January 31, 2023. After contextual remarks by Dr. Terry Peterson, the event featured a discussion with the principals involved in the passage of the EIA:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Terry Peterson,<\/strong> Senior Fellow, The Riley Institute; then Chief Counselor to Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education Dick Riley<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ginger Crocker,<\/strong> Director of Community Relations for the Public Service Commission of S.C.; then Member, S.C. House of Representatives<\/li>\n<li><strong>Terry Dozier,<\/strong> recently retired Director, Center for Teacher Leadership, Virginia Commonwealth University; then teacher, Irmo High School, and 1985 National Teacher of the Year<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dwight Drake,<\/strong> Partner, Nelson Mullins; then Special Advisor for Legislative and Political Affairs, Office of Governor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>John Simpkins,<\/strong> President and CEO at MDC, moderated the conversation. He was a student in South Carolina public schools when the act passed.<\/p>\n<p>Other speakers at the event were:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cathy Stevens,<\/strong> Senior Associate, The Riley Institute, and Project Manager, <em>A People\u2019s Movement<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong>Dick Riley,<\/strong> former Governor of South Carolina and United States Secretary of Education<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bob Saffold,<\/strong> Author, <em>A People&#8217;s Movement<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong>Don Gordon,<\/strong> Executive Director, The Riley Institute<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more information about the core beliefs about education that have animated Dick Riley&#8217;s leadership and how those thread through the contemporary work of the Riley Institute at Furman, read our <a href=\"https:\/\/furman.us5.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=a64ad6281fb45b24b5fd7ccf2&amp;id=98e192f07e&amp;e=7b1cc60452\"><em>Six Essentials of Dick Riley&#8217;s Work That Have Improved Education Over a Half-Century<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"A Man of the People: Dick Riley and the Passage of the EIA\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fcDD5rEq4Wc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/proofing.jeremyfleming.com\/rileyinstitute-eia\/\">View complete photo gallery from the event<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About the book A People\u2019s Movement: How a team of state and local leaders mobilized the grassroots, transformed public education, and lived to tell the tale\u2014and how you can, too shares relevant lessons from the South Carolina Education Improvement Act (EIA) of 1984, one of the nation\u2019s most ambitious state-level legislative reform initiatives, widely acknowledged [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":7179,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6961","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6961"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7985,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6961\/revisions\/7985"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/public-education-initiatives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}