Continuing the work on education reform  

 

COLUMBIA—An education subcommittee met at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, July 8 in the state capital to continue working on the education reform bill. The committee, made up of SC Senators, met a dozen or so times during the legislative session that just ended but was unable to submit a finished bill by the end of the session in May.  

The House and Senate are not scheduled to return to the capital to begin the next years legal session until January 2020. The education subcommittee focused their meeting on what to do about underperforming schools, school districts, and charter schools in the state. The senators are working on a new version of the education reform bill that would overhaul the state’s education system.  

This comes on the back of the special session that was held in the last week of June to pass the budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, that saw 25 of Governor McMaster’s line item vetoes overturned. Governor McMaster has been a strong advocate for education reform in the state and in increasing teacher wages. The 2019-2020 budget allots $160 million to go towards teacher raises across the state, Governor McMaster had originally asked for much more of the state budget to be allotted for teacher raises.  

The South Carolina House passed its own version of the education reform bill but despite Governor McMaster’s pressure, the Senate did not finish its reform bill before the end of the legislative session in May.  

By Samuel Robinson 

Sam.robinson@tryondailybulletin.com