Anti-ESA Lawsuit Filed

Education
Blog · October 27, 2023

Statement of Palmetto Promise Institute Eidson v. South Carolina Department of Education October 26, 2023 “The Education Scholarship Trust Fund Act (Act 8), passed by a bipartisan majority of the General Assembly and signed by the Governor, is clearly constitutional. State aid in the ESTF is directed to students, not schools (or to the wide

Introducing Carolina Academic Leadership!

Education
Blog · October 19, 2023

Members of district school boards, also known as school trustees, are under pressure like never before. That’s because in the wake of COVID-19, parents and other taxpayers are finally paying attention to their work. To bear the burden of educational leadership in the higher education space, members of college and university boards of trustees enjoy

Governor McMaster Ceremonial CON Repeal Signing

Healthcare
Blog · October 11, 2023

Last week in the Statehouse, Governor Henry McMaster held a ceremonial bill signing for the legislation repealing South Carolina’s Certificate of Need (CON) statute. Palmetto Promise Institute President Wendy Damron and PPI Senior Fellow Dr. Oran Smith (far left of the photo above) were on hand for the occasion. In his remarks, Governor McMaster was

Thanks, Citizen Sleuths!

Education
Blog · April 5, 2023

Thanks, Citizen Sleuths! It appears that some in the education lobby didn’t like our “citizen sleuth” exercise from two weeks ago. (This was our call for your help calculating ease of access to health [sexuality] education curricula on school district websites.) Our simple research effort was spun this way in a Senate hearing on curriculum

New Report: Lessons from 25 Years of Public Charter Schools Ring True (and Familiar)

Education
Blog · December 14, 2021

A comprehensive new report on charter schools from Palmetto Promise Institute shows that Problem Number One for public charter school students is identical to the most pressing issue that all public school students face: too little connection between their individual needs and the funding their schools receive for them.

Parents: 1, Know-It-All’s: 0

November 9, 2021

The idea that “experts know best” has been so pervasive for so long in certain quarters that senses have been dulled to what real people know to be true. That “tone-deafness” was what shifted ticket-splitting Virginia parents to Republican Glenn Youngkin according to media reports, including (even!) CNN.

Sen. Tim Scott Hosts Back to School Parent Town Hall

Education
Blog · September 20, 2021

Many uncertainties for the schooling of America’s children remain. Senator Scott and his team answered many questions about school decisions that are affecting families and their children. Whether it was about helping alleviate the mental health struggles of students, school mask mandates, or handling teachers’ unions. If you are a parent, most likely your question was asked in this recent event.