The Artis Ware Center For Education Opportunity

Named to honor the inspiring legacy of U.S. Senator Tim Scott’s grandfather, The Artis Ware Center for Education Opportunity works to advance educational excellence and hope for every South Carolina child.
A Message from U.S. Senator Tim Scott

The Latest

Blog
March 7, 2024

Why Homeschoolers Need Not Fear This New SC School Choice Bill

Felicity Ropp

Over the past few months, Palmetto Promise Institute has had the joy of helping spread the word to South Carolina families about the state’s new ESA program, the Education Scholarship Trust Fund. In that process, our staff has heard from parents across the state who are interested in using ESA funds to finally give their

Blog
March 6, 2024

Palmetto Promise Submits Amicus Curiae Brief in Support of SC’s ESA Program

Today, March 6, 2024, the South Carolina Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the legal challenge to South Carolina’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) program, Eidson v. SC Department of Education. Palmetto Promise has advocated for the adoption of an ESA program in South Carolina for nearly a decade. We were involved every step of

Blog
February 29, 2024

Universal School Choice is Coming!

Wendy Damron

Have you heard the news? South Carolina is on its way to universal school choice! Like we said after the full repeal of South Carolina’s restrictive Certificate of Need law, it is time to say goodbye to incrementalism! We wrote then that, “if the South Carolina legislature is willing to listen to citizens and patients

Blog
January 30, 2024

South Carolina education scholarships open

Palmetto Promise President Wendy Damron is quoted in this article from The Center Square on South Carolina’s new ESA program. (The Center Square) — South Carolina is accepting applications for a new education scholarship that proponents say is the future of education in the state. Last year, state lawmakers passed S.39, the Educational Scholarship Trust Fund,

Blog
November 16, 2023

Common Questions About Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs)

Palmetto Promise Team

What is an ESA?ESAs allow parents to apply for eligible students to receive the state portion of education funds (or in the South Carolina case, a portion of state general funds) into a personal, parent-controlled account. Parents are then empowered to customize an education experience that meets the individual needs of their child, using their

Blog
November 14, 2023

The Gaslighting of South Carolina Parents

Palmetto Promise Team

Do you know the origin of the term “gaslighting”? The act of “gaslighting” was made famous by the MGM film of that title starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer (1944). Bergman won an Oscar for her role.* The husband-villain in the film (Gregory Anton portrayed by Boyer) plots to steal the estate of his loving

Blog
November 14, 2023

BREAKING: Proposed Library Regulation Passes

Palmetto Promise Team

On September 28, the State Department of Education (SCDE) published a draft of a “new regulation that addresses school and classroom library materials.” Because it is a state regulation, it is lengthy, but here’s the bottom line. The regulation proposed by the State Department of Education establishes a complaint process and an orderly system for

Blog
November 1, 2023

The NEA Sues South Carolina: Does Their Tillman Constitution Claim Have Merit?

Palmetto Promise Team

Last week, the National Education Association (The NEA/The SCEA) and others announced that they had filed suit against the State Department of Education, State Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver, State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, and the State Treasurer’s Office. Their target? The fledging Education Scholarship Account (ESA) program passed by the legislature in 2023 that would allow

Blog
October 27, 2023

Anti-ESA Lawsuit Filed

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

Blog
October 23, 2023

Tarheel Shocker: North Carolina Reshuffles the School Choice Deck in the Southeast

Oran P. Smith, Ph.D

North Carolina has been moving the goalposts on tax reform for nearly a decade. Now, in an unexpected turn of events, the Tarheel State (with a Democrat Governor no less) has tossed down the gauntlet on school choice. On September 22, North Carolina became the tenth state in America to pass universal school choice. Universal