“Reading is the foundation for all learning. And that foundation is built early in life by exposing young children to the words of books and the uses of language. Reading to a child early and often can change a child’s life.” President George W. Bush, April 2, 2002. Announcement of Early Childhood Initiative at Pennsylvania State University.

“Leave No One Behind” the motto of Educator, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.

Dr. Albert Spencer is a professional educator with over thirty years of experience. He began his career in 1965 as a student teacher in Butler High School, a school with one of the largest enrollments per class size in the nation. His first solo teaching assignment was at an American Indian school with an extremely small budget. He remembers purchasing five basketballs, which had to last the entire school year and to be used by the physical education classes as well as the boys and girls basketball teams. Dr. Spencer also taught at Atlanta University, a historically black institution of higher learning and is well aware of the unequal funding such colleges and universities still receive today. As a teacher, Dr. Spencer knows firsthand that educators are underpaid and frequently over-worked.

• In the wealthiest nation in the world, many Americans are being left behind. Approximately 23 % of the adults in Cherokee County are functionally illiterate. This figure is even higher in many other counties in the Fifth Congressional District of South Carolina
• South Carolina ranks last in Scholastic Aptitude Test scores in the U.S.A.
• Only 50% of South Carolina’s children who start in school remain to graduate from high school
• Enthusiastic, caring individuals are too frequently denied the opportunity to become educators due to out-dated 1800’s educational standards and unequally low salaries
• Less than 20% of the citizens of South Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District have any post-secondary education, while the majority of new jobs being created require a college degree

Albert F. Spencer is a strong supporter of “Reading is Fundamental.” He frequently volunteers to read in schools and requires his students, who are future educators, to do the same. He has completed a landmark research study with a professor at the University of South Carolina that significantly demonstrates that picture books influence a child’s choices of physical activity and careers.

As an experienced educator, Albert F. Spencer is a proponent of empowering teachers to have primary control over education. The professionals must have input into how schools are operated. Furthermore, Dr. Spencer believes that teacher evaluation tools must be revised. He has observed several instances where outstanding potential educators have been denied the opportunity to teach because their qualifying PRAXIS exams may have been low in mathematical ability. Conversely, he has also witnessed uninspiring individuals granted certification based on antiquated standards.

Statistics demonstrate that public elementary school students receive over three times as much funding per capita than do students in private schools and six times more at the high school level. Regardless, the dropout rate is much higher at the public school level and the academic achievement rate is lower. Many parents and teachers are concerned about the increase of drug use, sexual license and secular atheism that is increasing in public schools. Those parents who want their children to attend a private or church school are being taxed twice. Albert Spencer believes that we must allow parents to use vouchers (equal opportunity scholarships) to send their children to any participating school, public or private school.

Albert F. Spencer is firmly committed to seeing public education being greatly improved. He believes that “No Child Left Behind” is a good start. No child or adolescent should be deprived of a quality education and this must be #1 priority.

Presently, Dr. Albert F. Spencer is a college teacher educator. He knows the need of a college education to enable individuals to reach their potential. A college education must be affordable for every American.