One question about the state budget and lawmakers plan to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the budget is how the cuts may affect students and teachers.
Bunny Beckham, chair of the science department at Myrtle Beach High School said hearing the phrase budget cuts doesn't ring the panic alarm, she knows all to well about cost saving measures. After thirty years of teaching in South Carolina’s schools, she said she's learned to adjust. "The only movies, videos we could get came out of the state, you have to order them from the state and they were on reel to reel that had been taped together so many times that you could see the tape more than movie." said Beckham.
Beckham said there have been times she's had thousands upon thousands of dollars at her disposal and other times when she had just the basics. “We had a blackboard, we had chalk and we taught with that, we had a purple ditto machine that we ran papers off with so and I did fine, you know you adjust. The only thing I ever gave my students were labs and test, because I didn't have worksheets and I didn't have textbooks and they took notes in their notebooks and they were very capable students." said Beckham.
Beckham also said even though some advances in technology are changing the way students learn, she wants lawmakers to consider the basics if they're thinking about cutting funding.
"The legislature has got to remember that the schools have to have enough money to function so that we can produce the type of citizens that we need in the state of South Carolina." said Beckham.

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