For immediate release, November 20, 2009

SC Superintendent Candidate Frank Holleman to Visit CERRA on Monday

ROCK HILL—South Carolina citizens will elect a new state superintendent of education in November 2010, and one person vying for the post wants to learn about the nation’s oldest and most established teacher recruitment center.

Frank Holleman, 55, (D-Greenville), who is an attorney and the former deputy secretary of education under then-United States Secretary of Education Dick Riley, will visit the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) on Monday.

On his campaign Website, www.hollemanforeducation, he says there is no single issue that must be tackled to provide all South Carolinians with an excellent education. Rather, he sees several areas for improvement. Among them, he opposes vouchers and tax credits that take funds away from public schools and sees a need to make education the number one priority for everyone—businesses, private groups, colleges, families, and the public school system themselves. Holleman believes schools must accelerate academic achievement through new and innovative approaches so students acquire the knowledge and skills to compete in the 21st century economy.

He believes effective early investments yield tremendous financial and educational returns. He sees a need to champion teachers, principals, and superintendents, while reducing class sizes and increasing the quality of teaching. Holleman says students have to be given an array of opportunities to learn what they need to know to earn a diploma and to succeed in college or land a skilled job.

Other candidates for state superintendent of are: Elizabeth Moffly, 48, (R-Awendaw), who is a businesswoman and home school teacher for her teenage children; Brent Nelsen, 50, (R-Greenville), who is a professor at Furman University; and Kelly Payne, 39, (R-Irmo), who is a teacher at Dutch Fork High School.

Moffly and Payne will also be visiting CERRA to discuss future partnerships. They will be in Rock Hill December 7 and December 14, respectively. Nelsen visited with the teacher recruitment organization last month.

CERRA is a non-partisan state-funded organization and does not endorse any specific candidate. The organization, however, is open to sharing its mission and vision with any candidate for elected office in South Carolina.

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About the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, & Advancement:
CERRA, an independent state agency located on the campus of Winthrop University, is the oldest and most established teacher recruitment program in the country. The purpose of CERRA is to provide leadership in identifying, attracting, placing and retaining well-qualified individuals for the teaching profession in South Carolina. CERRA is a national model and its programs have been adopted at school, district and state levels in more than 30 states in the United States. More information about the Center and its programs is available at www.cerra.org. You can now follow CERRA on Facebook and Twitter.