With the recent news of Lexington School District One’s disregard for ethics law still causing uproar among voters around the state, another flagrant transgression of state ethics law has been dragged into the light.
Since his election as Superintendent of Education in 2006, Jim Rex has sought to undermine school choice reform efforts by any means possible. Through grandstanding, manipulation, and outright deception, Rex has fought to squelch anything and anyone who would try to improve South Carolina’s worst in the nation schools through parental choice and educational competition.
Despite his rabid assaults on school choice, Rex has never been accused of illegal activity…until now.
Following the Lexington One debacle, The Voice for School Choice invited readers to submit their own examples of status quo educrats misusing their positions to fight real reform. The response was overwhelming.
Several intrepid readers submitted a propaganda- laden email sent to them by none other than Jim Rex. In the email, which was paid for by his campaign account, Rex advocates the defeat of a laundry-list of State House and State Senate candidates across South Carolina who support school choice and urges readers to vote against them in the June 10th primary. This independent expenditure from Rex’s campaign account violates our state’s ethics laws, which specifically prohibit such activity.
South Carolinians need to ask this question: Are Rex’s actions that of a career educator, or of a shrewd and practiced politician? Is he using his position as a Constitutional officer to advance the educational interests’ of South Carolina’s children, or to block legislative reforms designed to improve failing schools?
Rex has unnecessarily politicized the office of Superintendent. His meddling in Legislative races breaks the law and the public trust.
As a constitutional officer, Rex’s responsibility is facilitating academic progress, not using public office to interject himself into legislative races.
19 responses so far ↓
sandyland // June 19, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I’m no lawyer but it sure looks shady. Superintendent Rex should have plenty to be keeping him busy without telling folks who to vote for
FrustratedFamily // June 19, 2008 at 12:25 pm
if he DOES have political capital (and recall he only won by a few hundred votes statewide) he ought to use it to push reform through the stubborn local district superintendent, not illegally throw himself in statehouse races. if this is illegal i hope they follow through and charge him. i am eager to hear how he tries to spin this!
BogusCommenter198 // June 19, 2008 at 6:17 pm
He’s a educrat!
SCRG Condemns Illegal Political Campaigning by Rex « SCHotline Press Releases // June 20, 2008 at 7:13 am
[...] With a high school graduation rate of just 55 percent, South Carolina’s public schools are the nation’s shame. This despite per pupil spending of more than $11,000 for each of the 700,000 public school students in South Carolina. When public officials like Rex and Lexington One Superintendent Karen Woodward illegally meddle in legislative races their actions make it clear: South Carolina’s public school bureaucracy is a partisan political machine fanatically dedicated to blocking substantive education reform. A blog posting about this email is posted at http://thevoiceforschoolchoice.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/sc-education-chief-abuses-ethics-law-public-... [...]
Para // June 20, 2008 at 8:22 am
I read his slick email. he tried to cover his ass just enough to avoid anyone saying anything, but it should be obvious to anyone but a fool that he’s asking people to vote against the school choice supporting candidates.
Nurm34 // June 20, 2008 at 8:31 am
What public trust? I don’t trust anyone who gets elected just to screw over parents who want their kids out of failing schools.
He better receive some kind of censure for this. For that matter he should step down!!!!!
Do the decent thing and STEP DOWN REX!!!!
FrustratedFamily // June 20, 2008 at 9:26 am
great to see how the m.s. media have covered this… oh wait, they didn’t! their liberal blinders prevent any criticism of rex, even if his actions are blatantly illegal!
Rex wrecks ethics rules | The Palmetto Scoop // June 20, 2008 at 12:52 pm
[...] their blog, SCRG opined: Are Rex’s actions that of a career educator, or of a shrewd and practiced politician? Is he [...]
disgusted // June 21, 2008 at 4:14 pm
It disgusts me to see a public official, especially one who directly influences the future of the children of this state, blatantly break the law. What is worse is that no one bats an eye. How can this be overlooked?
DrD // June 23, 2008 at 9:56 am
Ah, the joys of homeschooling!
Democrats Battle For “Republican” Candidates | FITSNews For Now // June 23, 2008 at 12:34 pm
[...] yet the mainstream media establishment remains curiously silent about this hypocrisy … just as it did when public school officials were busted earlier this month using state [...]
Here’s The Talley-Tenenbaum Ad | FITSNews For Now // June 23, 2008 at 1:34 pm
[...] FITSNews has also learned that ethics complaints are in the process of being filed against Tenenbaum’s organization as well as current State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex, whose improper campaign activities have similarly broken state law. [...]
Lexington One Superintendent Defends Illegal Emails « The Voice for School Choice // June 24, 2008 at 10:49 am
[...] its boundaries; not to serve as a partisan political apparatus. The actions of Woodward, as well as similarly illegal advocacy by Jim Rex, make it clear that so-called “public educators” often place the political [...]
Jim Rex’s 7 Mandates for Educators « The Voice for School Choice // June 30, 2008 at 10:26 am
[...] takes to make sure that no one who supports school choice gets into office. I have led the way in illegally involving myself in races, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t do likewise. Maintaining [...]
More Illegal Taxpayer Financed Campaigning « The Voice for School Choice // July 22, 2008 at 10:37 am
[...] time it was meddling in dozens of legislative [...]
Data needs to drive education policy debate « The Voice for School Choice // September 5, 2008 at 1:32 pm
[...] failing system, it seems James has adopted the image-first PR methods long employed by Jim Rex, his PR staff, countless district superintendents, testing corporations, taxpayer funded education unions, and [...]
SC Schools Boards still breaking ethics laws « The Voice for School Choice // September 18, 2008 at 6:23 am
[...] candidate endorsement to corporate influence peddling to direct cash-for-vote campaign donations to flagrant ethics violations to data manipulation …and of course using public money to block education reform for [...]
Public Office for Personal Gain (again) « The Voice for School Choice // October 3, 2008 at 5:45 am
[...] candidate endorsement to corporate influence peddling to direct cash-for-vote campaign donations to flagrant ethics violations to data manipulation …and of course using public money to block education reform for [...]
More Jim Rex Ethics Antics « The Voice for School Choice // July 1, 2009 at 4:06 am
[...] The Voice has never been shy about calling out “Dropout Jim” Rex for using taxpayer funds to reward and retain his loyal political consultant, Zeke Stokes (or f0r personal politicking) [...]