We are grateful to the South Carolina Senate for its recent passage of S.62, a bill by Education Chairman Greg Hembree that aims to restore school choice in South Carolina following the SC Supreme Court’s Eidson decision that left thousands of SC families with their promised scholarships ripped away. The legislation passed after several weeks
Teacher shortages have become a persistent problem for South Carolina’s public schools. But with new bills being proposed every legislative session to address this crisis, it’s hard to keep up with all the proposed changes. At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school session there were 1,043 teacher vacancies compared to the prior year’s 1,613 vacancies. To
This op-ed by Francesca Flores was originally published in The Greenville News. Imagine being a parent, watching your child thrive in a school that meets their unique needs — only to have that opportunity suddenly taken away. That is what happened to low-income families in the Palmetto State. Now that South Carolina’s legislative session has
This article by Adam Whittenberg was published in The Lion about Palmetto Promise President & CEO Wendy Damron’s recent award. When the South Carolina Supreme Court abruptly ended South Carolina’s school choice program just weeks into the school year, Wendy Damron didn’t take things lying down. Damron, who heads the Palmetto Promise Institute think tank,
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New Donors Push Palmetto Promise ESTF Families Rescue Fund to $2.2 million COLUMBIA — To kick off National School Choice Week, Palmetto Promise Institute President Wendy Damron announced today that new support from three (3) additional donors has pushed the Palmetto Promise ESTF Families Rescue fund to $2.2 million. The Rescue Fund goal,
COLUMBIA, South Car. (Jan. 24, 2025) – Families in South Carolina are eager to explore their school choice options, and dozens of schools in the Columbia and Lexington area are gathering to meet that need at a school fair timed to coincide with School Choice Week. No matter what type of school they’re looking for,
We are pleased to announce that Palmetto Promise Institute President & CEO Wendy Damron was awarded the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Doer Award at the Awakening by Heritage Conference this past weekend. Heritage defines “Doers” as individuals who are making a difference in their personal lives or fields of work, advancing Heritage’s mission and values. The
A newly-released national poll conducted by yes. every kid. foundation. shows the steadfast support Americans have for education policies that prioritize choice and flexibility. Have you ever thought of the K-12 education system as flexible? Most Americans don’t, according to these poll results. And yet Americans (and parents in particular) crave flexibility in education, and
College students that attend school in South Carolina deserve to exchange ideas freely and to have their speech fiercely protected. South Carolina should aim to be a place where all students from all backgrounds may speak their minds without censorship. This vision may become a reality this legislation session with the FORUM Act. Representative Bill
“I’ve been asked, ‘Why are you in such a rush? Why are you in such a hurry? What’s the urgency on this?’ And I’ll be really clear about that. You’ve got a couple thousand students out there that are right in the middle of the school year. They have made that transition to an independent