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This week, October 18-22, is the 17th annual observance of Free Speech Week in America. When we think of threats to Freedom of Speech, our minds naturally go to powerful examples from history.

ReimaginED profiles PPI Founder and CEO Ellen Weaver about her work on school choice.

As the Biden Administration continues to try to cram through more disastrous economic policy, recent lackluster national jobs numbers continue to tell the sad tale. And right here in South Carolina, employers are feeling those impacts hard. They are taking drastic measures to find workers and stay open. Here at PPI, we have been collecting photos from business owners and managers who have gone to great lengths to explain to their customers what they are going through.

PPI Senior Fellow Oran Smith is quoted in this article from The Center Square.

The January legislative session is fast approaching and conversations about top priorities are heating up. Nothing is more critical to South Carolina’s future—and preserving access to the American Dream—than the issue of education. That’s why one of PPI’s has worked tirelessly over the years to see South Carolina finally join the ranks of states like Florida and Arizona where expanding education freedom—commonly called school choice—has transformed the lives of students who need it most.

Governor McMaster’s COVID-19 advisory team, AccelerateSC, recently released its recommendations for how to spend the $8.89 billion allocated to South Carolina by the American Rescue Plan Act. Additional funding from the American Rescue Plan could dramatically expand operations to support more South Carolina farms and feed families in need.

Two Wall Street Journal articles published in early September (September 4th and September 13th) documented the growing shortage of bus drivers, both across the country and in the state of Massachusetts specifically, where Governor Charlie Baker is enlisting the National Guard to help students get to school. Yet, instead of seeing this transportation dilemma as a chance to implement solutions that would benefit parents and children, the push is to keep children in their zip code-assigned schools at all costs.

As Palmetto Promise has previously reported, South Carolina public schools are on the receiving end of an “unprecedented” $3.4 billion in one-time pandemic-related funds. South Carolina lawmakers have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to wisely steward these resources to support students and families who have been most dramatically impacted by school closures and lack-luster remote learning, as well as expand innovation and create unprecedented transparency.

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.

No doubt one of the most tragic figures in Greek mythology was the Trojan princess Cassandra (known as Alexandra to the Romans). Then who can forget Sisyphus? Believe it or not, Sisyphus and Cassandra are each representative of the tale of Santee Cooper and one of the utility’s critics.