Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Shortchanged In School: These Are The 7 Worst School Districts in South Carolina and Why You Should Care

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Equity in education in South Carolina
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There’s no denying that South Carolina’s school system is struggling. World Population Review’s 2024 report ranked South Carolina 45th among U.S. states in public education quality. The South Carolina Department of Education released school report cards for the 2023-2024 academic year. Of 1,261 schools in South Carolina, 477 schools were rated average, 187 schools were rated below average, and 49 schools were rated unsatisfactory. Although there have been some efforts to make improvements, there are still gaps in equity in education in the state. Here we’ll discuss 7 of the worst-performing school districts in South Carolina and why it matters.

Why Equity in Education Matters

South Carolina’s Department of Education has struggled with an antiquated funding model for years. It has since gotten a major overhaul in 2022, but the state still has catching up to do. The old system allowed for minimal funding flexibility and failed to address unique student needs. According to the Reason Foundation, lack of accountability and transparency led to inequities in education in the state. For example, the highest-needs schools were not always getting their fair share of resources. The new funding system allows for dollars to flow where they are needed, such as raising teacher pay to attract quality teachers.

The state also has implemented school choice legislation to help parents pay for private school tuition, textbooks, tutoring, computers, or transportation for their children to attend other schools, depending on their needs.  This program, however, is still very small. To truly have equity in education in South Carolina, programs like this must be expanded. Until then, some students in the state will still have unfair disadvantages in their level and quality of education.

The Worst School Districts in South Carolina

  1. Georgetown County School District: Georgetown County Schools had seven out of nineteen, or 37%, of its total schools falling into the two lowest-performing categories.
  2. Charleston County School District: The largest school district in the state, Charleston County has several schools that don’t meet the State Board of Education’s standards. 17 out of 72 schools listed in the report fall into that “Below Average” or “Unsatisfactory” category, with that being almost 24%. It is important to note that this number was 27 in 2019.
  3. Berkley County School District: In the Berkeley County School District, nine out of 48 fell into the category, which is nearly 19% of the total schools.
  4. Dorchester County District 2: In this district, two schools out of 25 were included in the category, which is 8%.
  5. Dorchester County District 4: This district has one out of eight schools in the below-average category, which is 12.5% of the district.
  6. Colleton County School District: While no schools in this district are “Unsatisfactory”, all of the district’s schools are “Average” or “Below Average”.
  7. Beaufort County School District: Beaufort County Schools had three out of 34 schools fall into the “Below Average” category. There were no “Unsatisfactory” schools. The low-performing percentage is at about 9%.

Are you surprised by these results? Let us know your thoughts about equity in education in South Carolina schools.

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These Are The Top 7 Reasons You Are Still Broke

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Why you can't change your financial situation and stop being poor.
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Do you feel like you will never get a handle on your finances? You don’t have to settle for being poor. By shifting your habits and mindsets you can improve your financial picture. Here are the top 7 reasons why you are still broke.

1. You Have a Scarcity Mindset

If you believe that money is limited and you’ll never have enough, you probably will be stuck being poor. How you view money has a lot to do with how you’ll behave and the money decisions you’ll make. You’ll continue to worry about bills, stress about the future, and live paycheck to paycheck. Instead, work on shifting your money mindset to that of abundance. With this mindset, you believe that you have enough money and you’ll always have what you need.

2. You Haven’t Learned from Your Financial Mistakes

Do you work on your financial health and then fall back into old patterns? Making smart money decisions isn’t just for a season. When you make a mistake, give yourself grace but learn from the experience. Adopting better money habits throughout your lifetime will stop you from being poor and build your wealth over time.

3. You Believe You’re Bad with Money

If you constantly tell yourself that you’re bad with money, you’re setting yourself up for a self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead of holding yourself accountable, saying that you’re bad with money makes excuses for poor choices. Researchers have found that our internal money scripts play a large role in our income and net worth. Until we flip the script, we may not see a way out of our money problems.

4. You Don’t Track Your Money

If you don’t know how much money is coming in and going out, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Paying attention to your money is crucial to bettering your situation. Then, you create a budget, get out of debt, build your wealth, and make your money work for you.

5. You Live Beyond Your Means

No matter how much money you make, living beyond your means will always leave you feeling broke. Living beyond your means can look like carrying massive credit card debt, taking out a bigger mortgage than you can realistically afford, or overspending on luxuries. Additionally, Lifestyle creep is something you need to be aware of, even if you bring in additional income. Until you get a handle on your spending patterns, you’ll continue to feel broke.

6. You Haven’t Worked on Your Financial Literacy

It’s ok to admit that you need to work on your financial literacy. Many of us aren’t taught about basic money principles that are essential to money management. So, read financial literacy books, listen to podcasts, or take a course to increase your knowledge.

7. You Don’t Know Where to Start

If you constantly are overwhelmed by your financial situation, it’s probably difficult to take action to improve it. While change doesn’t happen overnight, small positive steps forward will pay off over time. It’s important to remain diligent and consistent when you’re trying to improve your finances. Try not to lose motivation and keep pushing forward.

How are you working on your financial situation? Let us know in the comments.

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5 Surprising Assets You Didn’t Know Can’t Be Depreciated

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5 Surprising Assets You Didn’t Know Can’t Be Depreciated

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What assets cannot be depreciated
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If you own a business, depreciation is important to help manage expenses, reduce taxable income, and account for the true value of assets over time. While there are different ways to calculate depreciation, such as straight-line or declining balance. Straight-line depreciation is the easiest method. It spreads the cost evenly over the asset’s useful life. Declining balance depreciation is an accelerated method of depreciation that depreciates an asset faster than in earlier years. If an asset loses value quickly, like tech equipment, this method is the most useful.

So, what assets can and can’t be depreciated? Many of us are familiar with assets that can be depreciated like commercial buildings and cars. But what assets cannot be depreciated?  Here are 5 surprising assets that cannot be depreciated.

1. Patents and Copyrights

What assets cannot be depreciated self-created patents
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If you acquire a patent or copyright, it can be depreciated. If the patent or copyright is self-created, however, it can’t be depreciated. This is an important distinction that you should know about. The same is true for brand names and trademarks. If self-created, they aren’t depreciable, but if purchased they may be amortized.

2. Inventory

Inventory doesn’t get depreciated, but instead gets expensed when sold. The IRS considers inventory a short-term asset that is meant to be sold in less than a year. So it doesn’t have a long enough lifespan to be depreciated. Say your inventory is damaged or doesn’t move quickly. You would then account for it in an inventory write-down to account for its current market value.

3. Land

While land itself cannot be depreciated, many land improvements can be. With every property, there are usually improvements needed over time.  If you’ve invested money into landscaping, land improvements, or outdoor infrastructure, these assets may be eligible for depreciation. Improvements like irrigation systems, parking lot resurfacing, or sidewalk repairs can be depreciated. Things like trees, grass, and shrubs aren’t depreciable unless part of a qualified land improvement.

4. Demolition Costs

While you can depreciate improvements, demolition costs can’t be depreciated. If you tear down a building, the cost is added to the land value instead of being depreciated. Demolition costs are usually considered a capital expense that improves the land or changes its use. If demolition is part of a redevelopment project, certain costs may be deductible or amortized. As discussed, since land doesn’t lose usefulness it also can’t be depreciated.

5. Office Assets

While assets like office furniture can be depreciated, things like artwork cannot be depreciated. The same is true with antiques. However, if these assets are used in a business setting and you can prove a limited lifespan there may be some exceptions. Additionally, any assets only used for personal use cannot be depreciated. So things like furniture in your home don’t qualify.

What assets do you depreciate? Were there any assets on this list that cannot be depreciated that surprised you? Let us know your thoughts.

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