News
Ed. funding committee: Act 388 here to stay (Audio Available)
A group of state senators began a series of meetings Tuesday to consider all of the state’s public education funding. One focus of the Select Committee on K-12 Funding will be Act 388, a controversial bill passed by state lawmakers in 2006 which removed school operating taxes from owner-occupied homes and replaced them with an additional one-cent sales tax.
Read More
Clyburn seeking ‘fix’ to funnel more schools money to S.C.
What's at stake is $143.7 million of a federal education stimulus package that education officials across the state had hoped to use to help offset more teacher layoffs in public schools next year.
Read More
9 states, DC get $3.4B in 'Race to the Top' grants
The department chose nine states - Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island - and the District of Columbia for the grants. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said 25,000 schools will get money to raise student learning and close the achievement gap.
Read More
School districts stretch budgets
As students flock back to classes for the 2010-11 school year, public school districts are feeling the pinch and operating with budgets that have taken a beating.
Read More
State gets federal grant for charter schools
The S.C. Department of Education received a $5.7 million federal grant to help create more high-quality charter schools in the state.
Read More
S.C. may lose $143 million for education
South Carolina does not qualify for $143.4 million in federal education assistance approved last week because the state no longer meets minimum higher education funding requirements.
Read More
School starts, class sizes are bigger
Some districts have lost a lot of teachers, and there is a general increase in class size statewide...
Read More
Emergency bill to halt teacher layoffs signed
$143.7 million provided for South Carolina, saving the jobs of 2,400 teachers and other public school employees while preventing layoffs of police officers and firefighters across the state.
Read More
S.C. students improve in writing, reading
South Carolina’s elementary and middle school students showed across-the-board improvement in reading and writing, according to the standardized test that measures whether students are mastering what they are being taught.
Read More
Loopholes costing state billions, group leader says
South Carolina isn't broke — its tax system is broken, the director of a public education advocacy group told more than 400 business and education leaders in Greenville...
Read More
Rex Successor has hard task ahead
South Carolina's next superintendent of education will have to deal with a financial crisis that promises to be even worse than that of the past two years
Read More
Rex: Budget woes to continue without reform
South Carolina’s budget woes will only get worse next year without true tax reform, says Jim Rex, state superintendent of education.
Read More
Scoppe: The man who wanted to buy a House (editorial)
Gov. Mark Sanford attracted Howie Rich to South Carolina, with his campaign to pay parents to send their children to private schools.
Read More
SC schools make progress in annual federal report
South Carolina schools made some progress reaching federal education goals this year, but the state schools chief warns the benchmarks increase dramatically next year, meaning even schools that show marked improvement will still be labeled as falling behind.
Read More
Rex: No Child Left Behind law increasingly irrational
Rex says if the No Child Left Behind Act is not changed, every school in America will be deemed a failure by 2014.
Read More
SC finalist in new round of education grants
South Carolina education officials said Tuesday they believe they have a good shot at $175 million in federal education money after surpassing 17 other states and making the finals of a school reform grant program.
Read More
An arduous task: Budget cuts force Vaughn into personnel juggling act
If people are interested in and want to find out why we’re losing teachers and personnel, look at Act 388 and what it’s done.
Read More
SC study group gives sales tax increase initial OK
South Carolina consumers would pay sales taxes again on groceries and start paying taxes on Internet music downloads, prescription drugs, electricity, water and a range of other items under a proposal that won initial approval Tuesday by a tax overhaul panel.
Read More
Once a Leader, U.S. Lags in College Degrees
The United States used to lead the world in the number of 25- to 34-year-olds with college degrees. Now it ranks 12th among 36 developed nations.
Read More
S.C. adopts school standards
The state Board of Education agreed in a 9-4 vote Wednesday to approve the Common Core State Standards, making South Carolina the 25th state in the country to do so. The state Education Oversight Committee gave its approval to the change earlier this summer.
Read More
Report highlights S.C. education policy shortfalls
Southern Regional Education Board President, Dave Spence, said "South Carolina can be proud of its progress in education, but all policy-makers and education leaders in SREB states need to continue to make improving all points in the education pipeline a top priority," on the report's release.
Read More
I-95 Corridor Students Spending Week in Columbia
"Coming to Columbia will provide them with more opportunities to meet people who have excelled and come from similar experiences they come from," said Columbia Urban League's JT McLawhorn.
Read More
SC Children and Families to benefit from $2million for home visiting programs
The home visitations will focus on improving childrens’ health and development, early learning, child abuse and neglect and prevention, as well as family support.
Read More
SC Schools win money for dropout prevention
South Carolina's education agency has awarded more than $1.4 million for programs aimed at preventing teens from dropping out of school.
Read More
Budget keeps bleeding as lawmakers quit for year
The 2010 General Assembly wrapped up its session by finalizing a pain-filled $5.1 billion state budget for next year and looking warily forward to better economic days ahead.
Read More
Sanford may overhaul agency
The five-member Budget and Control Board voted Wednesday to allow Sanford to meet with agency director Frank Fusco and decide which functions of the state agency are essential and how to pay for them. Sanford vetoed the budget board’s entire budget — a veto that lawmakers upheld — arguing the agency could tap money in reserve accounts to pay for its operations.
Read More
SC Senators Override School Bus Fuel Money Veto And Others
The South Carolina Senate on Tuesday overrode most of the vetoes that the House had already overridden two weeks ago. One of the vetoes would have cut $900,000 from the school bus fuel and parts budget.
Read More
Lawmakers return to tackle vetoes
Senate to take action on budget; last-minute voter identification legislation also up for consideration
Read More
Sanford Rejects School Funding Bill
Senate Bill 1372 served as an amendment to Senate Bill 639, the bill that was signed into law in February 2008 and states the two Sumter school districts will become one on July 1, 2011. The new bill proposed that the two school districts could use the bond money they can borrow, up to 8 percent of the assessed value of the individual school district, for their general operating budget. Normally such money is restricted to capital expenses, such as bricks-and-mortar construction.
Read More
Rex still pushing for funding reform
State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex asked educators during his final State of the Schools address Wednesday to continue fighting for school funding reform.
Read More
State education rivals debate hot-button topics in Myrtle Beach
Some state educators had a chance to learn more about the candidates for the S.C. Superintendent of Education, when the two met Thursday for the first time since receiving their party nominations for the November election.
Read More
Schools may adopt new standards
State officials are moving toward adopting a new set of standards that define what students must learn at every grade level in reading and math.
Read More
Vetoes to touch lives of every state resident
Residents across South Carolina are going to immediately feel a heightened impact of loss of services from the most recent cuts made to a recession-hammered budget that has been carved by $2 billion over the past three years.
Read More
S.C. close to adopting multi-state standards
South Carolina is one step closer to adopting a set of academic standards developed by educators from across the nation.
Read More
Voters to decide GOP's crowded runoff ballot races
Voters will determine Tuesday whether South Carolina has its first female GOP nominee for governor and whether another candidate has a shot at becoming the state's first black Republican member of the U.S. House in more than a century.
Read More
Several Key Races Turn Into Blowouts
While final numbers are not in, voter turnout has been reported as light; however, runoff elections
typically do not have high numbers of people showing up to the polls.
Read More
Rex: political involvement by educators key to continuing public school improvements
In his final “state of the schools” speech to South Carolina school administrators today, Superintendent of Education Jim Rex touted the K-12 reforms of the past three years and said political involvement by educators is key to continued improvement.
Read More
S.C. Senate to take up budget vetoes today
The House sustained more than 40 ofGov. Mark Sanford’s 107 budget vetoes. The Senate is expected today to take up the vetoes that the
House overrode.
Read More
Will vetoes stick?
Legislators will take up budget vetoes today that will decide whether there is money for immunization programs, school bus fuel and to avoid closing an agency that runs much of the state’s bureaucracy.
Read More
SC governor issues 107 budget vetoes
The cuts include funding for university research, educational television, public libraries, arts programs, Senate and House administration, and solar power tax credits.
Read More
Turnout low to moderate in S.C. primaries, officials say
Officials say voter turnout in South Carolina's primary elections was mostly moderate across the state but heavier in traditional
Republican strongholds.
Read More
Top Race Results Feature Gresham Barrett, Nikki Haley, Vincent Sheheen
Republican candidates for governor Nikki Haley and Gresham Barrett will face each other in a runoff for Republican nominee for governor, and they'll have to beat Democratic Nominee Vincent Sheheen for the state's top office.
Read More
Total teacher job losses still being tallied
School is out for the summer, but there is still much work ahead for Midlands school administrators and financial officers, who are trying to come up with strategies to cope with the loss of millions in state funding — and the loss of teachers as a result.
Read More
Final Legislative Update for 2010 (Courtesy SCSBA)
Governor Sanford on May 28 signed into law the joint resolution allowing districts to waive state-mandated teacher salary step increases in the 2010-11 fiscal year (H.4838). If a district opts to do this – by providing notice on its website and per public vote of the school board - then it must apply uniformly to all teachers and the board may not give salary raises to district and school administrators.
Read More
Lawmakers OK state budget
Severe spending cuts to have wide-ranging repercussions
Read More
SC applies for 2nd round of 'Race to the Top'
South Carolina is seeking $175 million in federal education money in round two of the "Race to the Top" competition.
Read More
Tuition credits key for GOP candidates for S.C. governor
All four support offering tax credits for private school tuition, an idea that repeatedly has died in the Legislature and divided the GOP. None backs a specific plan -- a nod to failed proposals supported by Sanford.
Read More
Legislative Update (Courtesy SCSBA)
In other legislative action last week, the Senate Education Committee reported out favorably the charter school bill (H.4243). Senator Anderson placed a minority report on the bill meaning that it moves directly to the Senate contested calendar. With just three legislative days remaining, the bill is likely dead for the session and will have to be refiled next year.
Read More
Compromise $5 billion spending plan approved in SC
A compromise version of South Carolina's nearly $5 billion spending plan has been approved after a conference committee ditched House plans to eliminate abortion coverage under the state's health plan for victims of rape and incest.
Read More
Teacher Appreciation Month
For a few more days, citizens have an opportunity to thank the state’s teachers for their hard work and dedication. SC Future Minds, the private foundation that promotes innovation for excellence in public education, will pass along the messages of gratitude to the teachers whose names are submitted.
Read More
Legislative Update (Courtesy SCSBA)
With two weeks remaining in the 2010 legislative session, the House on May 19 adopted a revised appropriation plan (H.4657) and sent it back to the Senate, setting the stage for a conference committee showdown over differences in the two chambers’ budget versions.
Read More
Race to the Top petition open for signatures
Show your support for the SC's Race to the Top grant application by signing the petition. After finishing in sixth place earlier this spring, the South Carolina Department of Education is making a second try for the competitve federal grant program.
Read More
S.C. House approves budget-cutting amendment
The South Carolina House approved a budget amendment Wednesday with cuts of more than $50 million from the state's general fund, said Rep. Don Bowen of Anderson.
Read More
State teachers could keep certification bonuses
Both the House and Senate have approved a bill that affects the popular National Board Certification program for outstanding teachers.
Read More
Why there's a wait to fix education funding
This was supposed to be the year the General Assembly tackled the issue of public K-12 education funding. It wasn’t. Next year will be. They swear.
Read More
Legislature overrides Sanford's cigarette tax veto
The tax increase will raise a projected $135 million annually to be spent on state-run health care programs. Supporters also say the tax increase will discourage young people from taking up the habit.
Read More
S.C. teachers to face cuts in many ways
With severe state budget cuts, local school districts and the state Legislature are making big changes that will impact classrooms...
Read More
Legislature has sold out education (Teacher Editorial)
Either we just do not know what to do or we are infected with apathy. Either we simply do not care or we do not know the power that we possess. Either we save our children's future or we let the politicians throw children under the bus. Either you are part of the problem or part of the solution. Not to act is a grievous and unacceptable disgrace.
Read More
Greenville schools to lose more teachers, commerical property owners to pay more
Trustees blamed state legislators for making matters worse by taking away the stable income source of property tax on homeowners and replacing it with the sales tax, which fell along with the economy.
Read More
Legislative Update for the week of May 10th (provided by the SCSBA)
As the contentious 2010 legislative session heads into the home stretch, it remains extremely important for the education community to continue to push legislators hard in order to bring several critical issues across the finish line.
Read More
SC Gov Sanford wants $324M cut from budget
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford wants lawmakers to cut $324 million from the spending plans the Senate approved last week.
Read More
Next year’s education budget may cause loss of 3,800 positions
The projections are based on an Education Department survey of local school districts as they develop their budgets. Officials say a similar survey last year actually ended up underestimating K-12 job cuts statewide.
Read More
Senate-approved plan relies on federal cash, higher fees
The plan uses 1995 levels for per-student spending, with state funding for public schools falling by more than $83 million.
Read More
S.C. Senate approves budget after all-nighter
The South Carolina Senate approved a $5 billion spending plan early Friday morning that imposes fees to pay for law enforcement and delays decisions on how to deal with a billion-dollar budget hole until next year.
Read More
House OKs bill to curb dropouts
South Carolina teens who don't take school seriously could lose their driver's licenses until they turn 18.
Read More
Teacher honorees visit Statehouse as part of Teacher Appreciation Month kick-off
South Carolina’s teachers of the year visited the South Carolina House and Senate chambers today, then cheered as leaders of Bojangles’ restaurants and South Carolina Future Minds announced plans for the first-ever South Carolina Teacher Appreciation Month.
Read More
Rock Hill schools want all registered voters to gather for photo
A picture’s worth a thousand words, and Rock Hill schools hope a picture of York County registered voters will send a message to area law makers...
Read More
Advice: Cut Rock Hill school custodians
Custodians emerged as a key focus on a list of suggestions to help school officials deal with a massive budget shortfall that could bring 100 job cuts, fewer programs and other changes.
Read More
Bowen calls for pay reductions for school administrators
Tom Dobbins, who will oppose Bowen in the November election, said the problem was not in the cost of running school districts, but in the way the legislators chose to fund schools.
Read More
Teachers educate themselves on budget
"This discussion is about us. Our voices need to be the loudest."
Read More
Legislative Update for the week of April 26th
(provided by the SC School Boards Association)
The Senate will begin debate on its version of the state’s $5 billion 2010-11 spending plan April 27. An additional $126 million was cut recently by the Senate Finance Committee from the House-adopted budget, including $60 million due to an “accounting” error, as well as a large- than- anticipated growth in state-funded health care costs (some $67 million) that arose shortly after the House adopted its budget plan.
Read More
School funding rally a political awakening for students
"It's up to each and everyone of us to make sure that our own voices are heard. If we all sit back and wait for someone else to speak for us, you'll get out of it exactly what you put into it. Vote with your wallets and kids interests at heart and be passionate."
Read More
Adjusting S.C.'s tax structure could return funding to schools, lawmakers told
After getting an earful from hundreds of teachers, students and parents worried about state education funding, some state legislators who attended the rally said they would consider changes to Act 388 to return funding to schools.
Read More
School Bus Transportation Funding Could Run Dry Next School Year
Getting students to school could prove to be a challenge with the budget as it stands. State Transportation Director for the South Carolina Department of Education, Don Tudor, says funding for buses will run dry by March unless funding is found.
Read More
Newberry County Schools Cut Teachers
The state's budget crisis is pushing another local school district to let go of teachers. Newberry County's school board met Monday night to go over their numbers, as they look to close a $2,300,000 shortfall.
Read More
Enough is Enough! Crowd Rallies For End to Public School Cuts
Everyone from students to principals packed the front lawn of the statehouse chanting "enough is enough!" More than a thousand people are hoping lawmakers avoid any additional cuts public school funds in South Carolina.
Read More
State budget takes $60 million hit
Lawmakers received a report Thursday from the Board of Economic Advisors that an additional $60 million will need to be carved from the state budget. Budget leaders are reporting that the cut is the result of a processing error.
Read More
S.C. Senate against another look at Act 388
The shortfall stemming from the Act 388 tax swap is expected to be $126 million next fiscal year, said Michael Sponhour, spokesman for the State Budget and Control Board.
Read More
Education supporters will march for funding
South Carolina teachers, parents and groups from the League of Women Voters to the School Boards Association plan to march at the statehouse Wednesday to urge legislators to fund public education.
Read More
S.C. keeps corporate income tax
Members of a Senate Finance subcommittee said the state could not afford to eliminate the roughly $150 million to $300 million generated by the third-largest tax source with the economy causing other sources of revenue to decline.
Read More
Tax study not complete if significant part left out (opinion)
Just when it seemed the state's "comprehensive" review of its tax system might truly be comprehensive, the Senate Finance Committee put us back at square one.
Read More
School budget outlook bleak - House proposal would trim already thin funding
Public schools already reeling from mid-year budget cuts are going to have an even more difficult time next school year paying their bills. State funding for schools has dropped to the level that it was in 1995, a dramatic decrease that educators say will affect classrooms.
Read More
S.C. school groups organize rally against cuts
South Carolina school and civic groups are organizing a rally at the Statehouse against further education cuts. The rally on April 14 is...
Read More
Lexington 2 mulls job cuts, tax hike
Lexington 2 officials are looking at furloughs, eliminating nearly 20 jobs, combining dozens of others and a small tax hike on businesses to counter state cuts in school aid.
Read More
Clarendon 1 faces $120,000 state funding cut
Clarendon School District 1 trustees will look for ways to make up a projected $120,000 deficit based on funds the district will receive from the state in 2010-11 compared to this year's figures.
Read More
Cobb-Hunter urges teachers to get politically involved for education
State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter says the $140 million in K-12 public education cuts passed by the House last week will make things harder for teachers.
Read More
Senate OKs 50-cent cigarette tax hike - Prolonged debate ends with passage, but a Sanford veto is anticipated
The Senate passed a bill raising the state's lowest-in-the-nation 7-cent cigarette tax by 50 cents late Wednesday, but only after nearly eight hours of contentious debate that challenged Senate decorum and left lawmakers questioning each other's motives.
Read More
What happened during the 12th week of the legislative session.
CIGARETTE TAX: South Carolina's lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax would increase by 50 cents under a bill that won key approval in the state Senate on Wednesday.
Read More
Lawmakers need to revisit Act 388 (Editorial)
The Senate Finance Committee took a shortsighted step last week when it voted to kill a provision in a bill that would have let a state tax commission study an ill-advised 2006 change to South Carolina’s property tax system.
Read More
Cigarette taxes are gold rush for states
State taxes on cigarettes range from $3.46 per pack in Rhode Island to just 7 cents per pack in South Carolina. The national average is $1.34.
Read More
Legislative update (courtesy, SCSBA)
A joint resolution extending the Tax Realignment Commission (TRAC) recommendation deadline to November 15, 2010 (H.4585), passed the Senate Finance Committee on March 24. Language to include study of Act 388 was stripped from the joint resolution.
Read More
SC not among federal education grant winners
South Carolina education officials were considering Monday whether to reapply for a second round of federal education grants, after coming in sixth in the highly competitive "Race to the Top" competition.
Read More
Lancaster Co. schools layoffs likely
There will also likely be furloughs, possibly an increase in middle school athletic fees, and vacancies left unfilled at Lancaster County schools in the fall.
Read More
Candidates to discuss education at forum
The candidates for governor and state superintendent of education will talk to educators Saturday at a Lexington forum. The event, to be held at the Lexington Municipal Convention Center, is part of the Palmetto State Teachers Association annual convention.
Read More
Upstate school district votes to cut 100 positions
A South Carolina school board has voted to eliminate more than 100 positions because of funding problems.
Read More
House approves budget
Smokers would pay 30 cents more for a pack of cigarettes and thousands of state workers could lose their jobs under a $5 billion budget that the state House approved early Thursday after a marathon session.
Read More
State in the running for ‘Race to the Top’
South Carolina has been tapped as a finalist in the heated federal Race to the Top grant competition.
Read More
Budget could hinge on Sanford's approval
The state’s budget has shrunk by almost $2 billion in recent years as a result of the recession and lagging state revenues, causing a series of agency cuts, layoffs and reduced or curtailed state services.
Read More
Schools At 'Bare Bones' Told To Cut More
"It's a really difficult time for all of us," said Cindy Coggins, principal at Lake Forest Elementary School. "They want to know what we think we can do without in our schools for next year."
Read More
House votes to keep school flexibility spending, raises classroom rate
"It befuddles me that we pass this thing called flexibility, then go back and tell school districts what they can and can't do,"
Read More
