To Fix the Damage Politicians Have Done to Our Educational System, Might I Suggest a Teacher, Instead?

Please vote for Lisa Ellis.

Updated June 6, 2022.

On Thursday, my friend Lisa Ellis, founder of the grassroots educational advocacy group SC for Ed, and a teacher for over two decades, announced that she was running for South Carolina Superintendent of Education.

I’ve know Lisa for about eleven years. She was student activities director when I started at Ridge View High School, which meant she was involved in the planning of constant events. The school loves events. Looking back, I think that served her well. I watched her with some awe as the May 1, 2019, teacher rally at the SC Statehouse coalesced around her. While many teachers and former teachers volunteered their energy and time that day, Lisa was the calm at the center of the storm, and when she spoke to the crowd, it was clear that although she might prefer to be speaking to a classroom of 20-30 students, she had the rare ability to engage a crowd of around 10,000 educator supporters just as well.

As Lisa looked out at that crowd, she said, “For too lo…