News Article

March 19, 2008

A Breath of Fresh Air

The Charleston Chronicle
Written by: Grassroots Committee To Elect Clay N. Middleton

WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ELECT A GREAT YOUNG MAN TO HOUSE SEAT 111. CLAY N. MIDDLETON has come forward as a long time public servant who wants to represent his community in the State Legislature. For many years, Clay has been quietly working behind the scenes, building bridges to fill the gaps in our community. He has served on local job training and housing committees, helping fellow Charlestonians become empowered and employed. As the community liaison for U.S. Congressman James Clyburn, Clay is an activist in his hometown, speaking with and for his hometown, speaking with and for his neighbors who live throughout the peninsula, listening to their concerns. Clay listened in earnest. And he knows what his fellow Charlestonians need and want from their government. And he wants to do his part as the representative of House Seat 111 to make his neighborhood stronger and better.

One essential issue to Clay is our education system. As the Charleston County School District approaches a new fiscal year, he wants to be a voice in the State House for our community, to speak up for our neighborhood schools. First and foremost, Clay feels that early childhood education should be expanded to better teach our little ones basic skills. Something must be done, Clay believes, because too many of our children are not reaching state and national academic standards. He supports youth mentoring, community partners for schools, adult education, and improving the state’s overall literacy rate.

Clay believes in School Choice, one similar to the successful Charleston Development Academy model, which is a true neighborhood school. He believes we should invest more of our state funds in our classrooms. It is a shame that we seem to spend more money per inmate than per student. And Clay supports our teachers; he feels their salaries should be comparable to others in the region. If we don’t invest enough in our future, we can only expect limited returns.

Along with providing our children with the funds for a better education, Clay believes we should better prepare them for the workforce. He wants the state government to provide our children with the skills to succeed beyond school by fine-tooling an apprenticeship program in conjunction with the school district, labor community, and city and county government. Another step in preparing our young ones for the real world, Clay believes is the implementation of SCWTC Global Markets in all of our middle and high schools, so our children can see that there are opportunities for them beyond the peninsula. As a result, our schools will more likely produce more leaders who will serve us locally as well as beyond.

Clay realizes the importance of supporting our youth and preparing them for the future. Our community needs more young people to come forward as leaders and problem solvers. Today, Clay has risen to the challenge: he wants to make our community a better one for all of us. He wants to rid our government of status quo and the same old same old. Clay N. Middleton is a man with great vision and great plans for our community. He is a breath of fresh air. Let us elect Clay to House Seat 111 on Tuesday, June 10th. If we miss the opportunity to give this young man a chance, we will discourage other young leaders like him from wanting to step up to serve. Let us give Clay, this young, progressive thinker, the chance to lead our community in a positive direction.

Paid for by the Grassroots Committee to Elect Clay N. Middleton to House Seat 111.