According to Vertstegen (2002), all state education finance models are antiquated. These models were designed at a time when the goal of policymakers and practitioners alike was to provide for a level of resource equity. With the emergence of state and national education goals and mandates for all students to reach proficiency targets, these systems are now seen as outdated. The Education Finance Act in South Carolina was enacted in 1977 prior to the enactment of the Education Accountability Act. An emerging theme in the literature is the convergence of the standards movement and school finance litigation and reform.

High quality early childhood education (ECE) has long-lasting positive impacts for states (Warner, 2009). High quality begins with developmentally appropriate practices.  In 2009, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) revised their position statement to include five key features of what they would consider developmentally appropriate practice (DAP): creating a caring community of learners; teaching to enhance development and learning; planning curriculum to achieve important goals; assessing children's development and learning; establishing reciprocal relationships with families.

Nationally, educational policies directed at neediest schools tend to aggregate to urban areas. However, many states and most of the US’s 15,000 school districts are distinctly rural (Institute for Education Science, 2007-2008). More schools receiving federal funding for rural and low income schools are located in the South than in other regions of the US (Magill, Hallberg, Hinojosa, & Reeves, 2010). More children in poverty live in the South (Mattingly & Turcotte-Seabury, 2010).