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
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,
ABC News 4 quoted Palmetto Promise in this article by Bryce Jacquot originally published in January 2024. SOUTH CAROLINA (WCIV) — A portal created by the South Carolina Department of Education to accept applications for $6,000 scholarships to qualifying South Carolina students is now open. The Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) was created by the legislature
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
