In the 38 years between 1977 and 2015, textbook prices skyrocketed 11 fold, nearly three times the rate of inflation. For years, students were a captive audience for booksellers. The College Board estimates that the average student will spend more than $1,200 on textbooks this year.

At the turn of the 21st century, 17 tech firms dotted the Charleston business community…[now], there are two tech centers and hundreds of tech startups within the Charleston Digital Corridor, which just started breaking ground on a NEW 92,000-square-foot development.

With 27 years of teaching and administrative positions under her belt, Ladson Elementary Assistant Principal Wanda Hughes has her sights set on a superintendent position in a poor rural community like the one she grew up in. She wants to make a difference in the lives of children, paying forward the difference educators made in…