The school choice environment in South Carolina is evolving rapidly. Just a few short years ago, families were forced to attend their residentially zoned traditional public school, drive their children to a local public charter school (if they were able), or pay for private school tuition out of their own pocket – effectively trapping lower
This op-ed was originally published in FitsNews. Recently, an article published in FITSNews argued that the creation of what is essentially an “Option 4” method of homeschooling in South Carolina through the passage of S.62, is a Trojan Horse that opens the door to increased state regulation of all existing homeschooling in the Palmetto State. But I am pleased
After months of uncertainty and determined advocacy from families across the state, South Carolina’s restored and expanded ESA program, the Education Scholarship Trust Fund, is back—and rising stronger than ever for 2025–26. When parents spoke up, lawmakers listened and passed S.62, which Governor McMaster signed into law May 7, 2025. Just a week later, ESTF
This past week, I was fortunate enough to attend the National Summit on Education, hosted by the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd). This conference is the preeminent collection of education policy experts in the country, with nearly every state represented by some number of policymakers, advocates, and education vendors. This year, about 1,500 people
Palmetto Promise’s Director of Education Policy, Ryan Dellinger, was quoted in this piece by our State Policy Network colleagues at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. South Carolina charter schools overperform A new study of state education records indicates that South Carolina charter schools are substantially outperforming traditional schools in preparing students for college and
Palmetto Promise Institute recently published a blog highlighting the release of the 2025 South Carolina school report cards. Overall, the results were promising—more schools moved up the grading scale, and academic performance across the state improved. With this in mind, PPI would like to take a deeper dive into the data and explore specifically how
Yesterday, the South Carolina Department of Education released its 2025 school report cards—offering the latest snapshot of how our public and public charter schools are performing. These annual report cards do more than just track test scores. They reveal whether students across our state are truly gaining ground—or if persistent gaps remain. For policymakers, the
Civic knowledge and engagement have been in decline nationwide for decades. South Carolina is no exception. The Palmetto Civics Project is the state’s response to this trend — asserting that South Carolina’s students should exit school not only with academic skills, but also with readiness to participate in democracy, preserve freedom, and strengthen community. The
According to Proviso 1.3(X) in this year’s budget, the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office (RFA) was directed to “…review the student weightings used in the State Aid to Classrooms funding formula and examine methods to improve the alignment of State Aid to Classrooms funding with student enrollment while ensuring districts and charter authorizers
In January 2025, The Nation’s Report Card released the scores from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for 4th, 8th, and 12th grade math and reading—though South Carolina has not tested 12th grade math since 2013. Usually administered every other year, NAEP gives us a snapshot of our academic achievement. When paired with