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Rallying Education Activism From The Grassroots Up: A Case Study Of The South Carolina Education Improvement Act Of 1984, Sally Saunders Huguley

Theses and Dissertations

With the 1983 publication of A Nation At Risk that warned of the “rising tide of mediocrity” in American public education, southern governors took the lead in proposing reforms to their states’ lagging education systems. Among those was South Carolina Governor Richard W. Riley, who proposed public school reform legislation funded by a statewide one cent sales tax increase within the difficult context of a legislative election year. Facing stiff opposition to the tax increase from the South Carolina General Assembly, Riley launched a statewide grassroots effort to pressure the Legislature to enact the 1984 Education Improvement Act (EIA) and …