For the 2024-25 school year, South Carolina’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) program has 5,000 slots available to students who meet the eligibility requirements: 1) have attended a public school during the 2023-24 school year OR are entering kindergarten for the 2024-25 school year and 2) have a household income at or below 200% of

Palmetto Promise CEO Wendy Damron is quoted in this article by Todd DeFoe at The Center Square. (The Center Square) — The South Carolina House of Representatives signed off on a measure to expand the Education Scholarship Trust Fund. Lawmakers voted 69-32 in favor of H.5164 on its second reading. The measure would expand a

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 20, 2024 Universal ESA Bill Passes South Carolina House  Income and Previous Public School Attendance Requirement Removed  COLUMBIA — By a vote of 69-32, the South Carolina House of Representatives today gave second reading to H. 5164, a bill that, if signed into law, would expand the state’s new Education Scholarship

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

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

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