The History and Future of Curriculum Transparency in South Carolina

Education
Blog · October 21, 2024

In 1988, after considerable and impassioned debate, the South Carolina General Assembly passed the Comprehensive Health Education Act. This law was a step forward in ensuring that all students across the Palmetto State receive health education that is both age-appropriate and comprehensive. Walking a legislative tightrope, the new statute created a standard to guide their

Conservative billionaire revives South Carolina’s school choice program rocked by sudden court decision

Education
Blog · October 18, 2024

This article by Jillian Schneider was originally published in The Lion. Just weeks after the South Carolina Supreme Court struck down school choice in the state, a conservative billionaire is coming to the rescue, at least through the end of this year. The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled the state’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF)

After court defeats SC school choice vouchers, conservative billionaire steps in to foot bill

Education
Blog · October 18, 2024
People wearing backpacks

This article by Nick Reynolds originally appeared in the Post and Courier. COLUMBIA — A conservative Pennsylvania billionaire will foot tuition costs for hundreds of private school students after South Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled a new school choice voucher program is unconstitutional. Jeffrey Yass, a political megadonor and longtime school choice advocate, is donating approximately $900,000 to cover

Billionaire awards a new version of the Yass Prize, this time to help an entire state

Education
Blog · October 17, 2024
Schoolkids raising their hands in classroom

This story by Lisa Buie originally appeared on Next Steps Blog. The big news: Yamilette Albertson Rodriguez could hardly contain her excitement. A Philadelphia billionaire whose name she had never heard before had donated $900,000 to cover tuition for her three kids and other students whose state scholarships had been ripped away by a South Carolina

RELEASE: Palmetto Promise Institute Announces ESA Family Rescue Fund for School Choice Families

Education
Blog · October 17, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Palmetto Promise Institute Announces ESA Family Rescue Fund for School Choice Families Donor will make ESTF families whole until December 31, 2024 COLUMBIA — Palmetto Promise Institute President & CEO Wendy Damron announced today that a generous donor has stepped forward to offer funding for private school students who were impacted by

We’re Hiring: Development Director

Blog · October 9, 2024

Development Director Palmetto Promise Institute Virtual in South Carolina APPLY HERE About Palmetto Promise Institute Founded in 2013 by Senator Jim DeMint, Palmetto Promise Institute champions free-market policies that advance freedom, innovation, and opportunity in South Carolina. We focus on five key areas: Education, Fiscal Policy, Healthcare, Energy, and Quality of Life. Our mission is

Unfinished Business: The Case for Magistrate Selection Reform in South Carolina

Quality of Life
Blog · October 9, 2024

On July 2, 2024, Governor McMaster signed S.1046 into law. This legislation reforms the process by which South Carolina selects its state judges. Well, most of them. Our declaration of only partial victory is not meant to take away from the fact that S.1046 was indeed a substantial step in the right direction towards full

Policy in Person: ESTF Families React in Real Time to Stolen Opportunity

Education
Blog · October 8, 2024

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 was a day thousands of parents across South Carolina will never forget: the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled the Education Scholarship Trust Fund—the state’s fledgling ESA program—unconstitutional. Immediately, Palmetto Promise Institute took a stand and set out to share the stories of parents all over the state affected by this unjust

Time to junk the ESA? Not so fast, my friend.

Education
Blog · October 4, 2024

Yesterday evening, the lame duck South Carolina Supreme Court surprised no one with the announcement that they weren’t interested in rehearing Eidson et al. v. South Carolina Department of Education et al., the legal proceeding also known as “the ESTF case” or the “the school choice case” (or, incorrectly, the “school voucher case”).  To some,