Will Obama provide help to struggling South Carolina schools?

20 Days and counting until Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.

I spent this New Year's Day morning browsing through the newspaper, and came across an interesting article on Obama's emerging plans to invest billions of dollars in the nation's infrastructure as well as our schools.

Associated Press writer Libby Quaid says that "Obama has given few specifics about his economic recovery plan, which could cost as much as $850 billion over two years. There is no word on how much of that would go to schools, or on how much would go toward repairs versus new construction. The only dollar figure from Obama so far is that schools would share with roads in an immediate infusion of $25 billion for repairs and rebuilding."

According to Quaid, that $25 billion represents only a tenth of the money needed for repairs, renovations or construction in America's schools.

She adds, "Educators argue that spiffy classrooms help children learn and also remove health risks. But they warn that Obama's school spending plan won't stimulate the economy if it requires matching funds from state and local governments whose tax revenues have been slashed by the recession."

But will taxpayer dollars make a difference?

Quaid points to studies in Houston, New York and North Dakota that she says "have made a link between classroom conditions and performance; in the New York study, researchers found kids in crowded classrooms scored lower in math and reading. Nearly half the principals in primary and secondary schools said deteriorating conditions are interfering with learning, according to the Education Department."

In our area, taxpayers are stepping up to the plate. In Horry County, we will soon begin paying an addition one cent on the dollar in sales tax to fund school district building projects, along with projects at both Coastal Carolina University and Horry-Georgetown Technical College. It's money, that despite the anemic economy, people are willing to pay to ease overcrowded classrooms like the ones my daughters attend at Carolina Forest Elementary.

But they are actually lucky, compared to many students in our viewing area. Less than 75 miles away, lies Dillon District 2, which had several of it's schools featured prominently in "Corridor of Shame." The 2005 documentary film told the story of the challenges facing rural school districts in South Carolina.

It's a sad story that Barack Obama has seen first-hand. The then-Illinois Senator paid a visit to J.V. Martin Middle School in the summer of 2007. Obama expressed shock over the condition of the school, in particular, the many portable classrooms that he called nothing more than "huts."

Last December, Dillon County voters passed their own 1 percent sales tax hike for school construction. But with unemployment at 12 percent, those dollars will be slow to trickle in.

And that's where Washington could step in, filling the gap for Dillon and other rural districts across the Carolinas.

As Obama prepares to take the oath of office, and bring "change" to the nation's capital, I wonder if he will remember that trip to Dillon County in 2007?

As he looks to set his priorities for investing in education, I sure hope so.

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