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

This article by Lisa Buie was originally published on the Next Steps Blog. In it, she quotes Palmetto Promise Institute President Wendy Damron.   The big story: Nearly 3,000 low-income students and their families now find themselves scrambling for education options a month into the new school year after the South Carolina Supreme Court tossed out

This op-ed by Palmetto Promise Senior Fellow Oran Smith originally appeared in the Post and Courier August 15, 2024, and a version of it appeared on the Carolinas Academic Leadership Network site in July.  Oklahoma’s state school Superintendent Scott Walters has made headlines for his new policy requiring the teaching of the Christian Bible and

This op-ed was published in the Carolina Journal on July 25, 2024. It is written by Bryce Fiedler, director of the Carolinas Academic Leadership Network, for which Palmetto Promise is a partner organization. It’s been over 300 years since the colony of Carolina was officially divided, establishing distinct North and South Carolina colonies. Today, as

This piece by Lisa Buie was originally published on the NextSteps by Step Up for Students. It quotes a Palmetto Promise Institute statement. The latest: With about a month left before the new school year begins, nearly 3,000 South Carolina students and their families still face uncertainty as they wait for the South Carolina Supreme Court

We are proud to share that Palmetto Promise Institute, along with our partners in North and South Carolina, have been awarded the Heritage Foundation’s 2024 Innovation Prize for our work on the Carolinas Academic Leadership Network (CALN). CALN aims to empower school board members throughout the Carolinas by honing their leadership skills in governance, professional development,

Palmetto Promise is quoted in this piece by Patrick Gleason, originally published in Forbes. Kevin Costner’s character in Field of Dreams, winner of the Oscar for Best Picture in 1990, was inspired to turn an Iowa cornfield into a baseball diamond after hearing the words, “if you build it, they will come.” In the reality 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

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