Will South Carolina Ever Meet Its Obligations to Public Schools?

(Probably not, without significantly increased pressure.)

Second update: While the House proposal to give some teachers up a $4,000 raise fell very short of what we need, the Senate proposal does even less, providing enough for only a $2000 increase to the minimum salary schedule, bringing the minimum starting salary up to $38,000, which is likely lower than the current average starting salary. This would only impact teachers in about 25 out of over 80 districts. Meanwhile, other southeastern states, including neighboring Georgia, are currently raising salaries to their highest levels in at least a decade, which will make retaining South Carolina teachers even more difficult. More than ever, supporters of public education need to take action, quickly. The main budget process is generally completed by the end of April, so please contact your state representatives in the SC Senate and House and stay tuned for other ways to help.

Updated to add: since writing this post, which mentions that only one candidate had formally filed to run as Superin…