2018 Winner of the EGF Accelerator’s Eddie Prize

“Minimally Adequate: How South Carolina’s Education System Fails Students”

About the Entry

In an eight-month investigation, a team of journalists from The Post and Courier newspaper interviewed more than 200 educators, students, parents, business leaders, politicians, and academics to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges facing South Carolina’s public school system, the historical events that led to the situation, and the push for change.

Comments from the Judges

“Excellent series on inadequacy of SC’s public schools. The stories track decades of neglect and denial among state leaders about the state of education in the state, leading to a deeply-segregated system that graduates students in need of remedial courses in college.”

“A searing history of segregation in education helps mount a compelling indictment of the state’s indifference to education, particularly for the state’s black children.”

“Fascinating and devastating account of the complex historical factors that drove South Carolina’s schools to the bottom of national rankings. This series exposes the racial and economic disparities that have marred SC’s past and continue to plague the state, resulting in “Two South Carolinas,” as one source put it. It holds lawmakers’ feet to the fire and helps readers understand how the state’s inequities threaten South Carolina’s booming economy.”

Photo credit: Grace Beahm Alford, Wade Spees, Andrew Whitaker, Lauren Petracca, Brad Nettles and Matthew Fortner