“Corridor of Shame: the neglect of South Carolina's rural schools”
Many of these ailing public schools were built in the 1920s and are now unsafe and unsanitary, but still in use. In the film, administrators and parents reveal how underpaid teachers, outdated libraries and broken computers are commonplace.
Graphic scenes of students in cold, filthy classrooms and vivid testimony of collapsed ceilings, raw sewage and snakes in school buildings attest to unbelievable learning conditions.
A disappointing court ruling in 2005 prompted a second project, which features authentic images from some of these schools, captured by the students themselves. Read more about “But What About Us? Student Photographs from the Corridor of Shame” here and view images from the exhibit here.
The documentary first aired on South Carolina Education Television and numerous cable stations in 2005, and continues to be screened in schools and communities all over the state. The photography exhibit also continues to be displayed in schools, churches and community centers statewide.
In 2007, several Presidential hopefuls toured the “Corridor of Shame” region and have since alluded to South Carolina's education funding issues in speeches throughout the state and nation.
