Palmetto Promise Institute Internship Program

Our program is designed to provide young individuals with the opportunity to learn about state policy development and to gain hands-on experience working on policy research, legislative analysis, and communications.

2023-2024 Palmetto Freedom Agenda

Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) Signed Into Law

Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, five thousand scholarships will be awarded to children from low and moderate income families (<$60,000 for a family of 4). Scholarships may be used not just for private school tuition but for a host of education providers. It is the ultimate customizable education. There are other restrictions. Children must have previously attended public school or be entering kindergarten. The portal for applying for these scholarships will open in March 2024. Schools are holding Open House events now. Get the ESA details here!

Hope · Opportunity · Promise

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Latest News

March 9, 2026

SC Lawmakers Seem to Be Allergic to Educational Opportunity

This article, published originally in The Daily Signal, features commentary from Palmetto Promise Visiting Fellow and Acting Director of the Center for Education Opportunity at the Heritage Foundation Jonathan Butcher. Why do South Carolina lawmakers want to make it more difficult for families to educate their children? Lawmakers are misinterpreting the very law they

March 4, 2026

Most new SC voucher recipients already were being privately educated, state says

Palmetto Promise Director of Education Policy Ryan Dellinger is quoted in this article, originally posted in the Post and Courier, related to recent data on the Education Scholarship Trust Fund released by the State Department of Education. Columbia, S.C. (The Post and Courier) – Most of the students receiving South Carolina’s state-funded private school scholarships

February 26, 2026

The Unbundled Truth: Why Words Matter in the ESTF Debate

After incredible positive momentum over the last four years in South Carolina, suddenly school choice—real parent-empowering school choice— is on the hotseat. How did this happen, and so quickly? It all started just a few weeks ago when Senate Education Chair Senator Greg Hembree filed S.692, intending to eliminate “unbundlers” from the new Education Scholarship

February 19, 2026

Education Supplements Trust Fund?

In 2025, the SC General Assembly passed S.62 (Act 11), which established the Education Scholarship Trust Fund , an ESA-style program providing education scholarships for students in grades K-12. This action completed the pre-K to college scholarship spectrum for the Palmetto State. (The state already sponsored private college scholarships (Tuition Grants, 1971; 1973) and private pre-K scholarships (First Steps, 1999).)  Unfortunately, in 2026, with the ESTF program up and running, some members of the General Assembly are remembering certain details of S.62 differently

February 19, 2026

Dr. Oran Smith Delivers Testimony on ESTF “Homeschooling” Bill

I recently testified before a Senate Education Subcommittee regarding S.692, which would eliminate “Option 4” homeschooling – or, more accurately, “unbundling’ – from the ESTF program. Below is the transcript of my testimony. My remarks have been edited for clarity, since they were not delivered from a prepared text. Palmetto Promise has been the evangelist

February 18, 2026

A Brief History of Grade Floors

The slides embedded below tell a brief history of grade floors in South Carolina as well as the origins of our 10-point grading scale. What one State Superintendent once considered against state policy in 2012 was later determined by another to be a district-level decision in 2015. Our current Uniform Grading Policy is silent on

February 12, 2026

AN OPEN LETTER: Pass the REINS Act

Palmetto Promise Institute Founding Chairman and longtime REINS Act champion Jim DeMint penned this open letter to the South Carolina legislature calling for them to pass the Small Business Regulatory Freedom Act. Dear Members of the South Carolina Senate, I have long believed that smart, transparent, and accountable regulation is essential to the livelihood of South

February 11, 2026

Bill allowing home delivery of alcohol makes first step in South Carolina House

Last week, I testified before the South Carolina House Judiciary General Laws Subcommittee on Representative Weston Newton’s H.3857, a bill that would permit home delivery of alcohol. We wrote about a similar bill during the last legislative session. The below article, originally published in WIS10, highlights the bill hearing as well as some of my

February 11, 2026

‘A kick in the pants’: SC bill banning minimum grades in schools advances in House

On February 10, 2026, I was fortunate enough to testify before the House K-12 Subcommittee on South Carolina Representative Pedalino’s H.5073, which would prohibit schools and school districts from adopting grade floor policies and ensure that students’ grades are based purely on their academic performance. The below article, originally posted in the South Carolina Daily

February 9, 2026

South Carolina is Fully Embracing the Science of Reading

Many of us take reading for granted. There are many reasons for this. It could be that embracing the joy of reading was something that just “happened” in our lives at a very young age, and we never give it another thought today. All homes are full of books, we all know how to read,

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