Commentary: Proceed with eyes wide open on VC Summer reboot

Energy
Blog · February 6, 2025

This op-ed by Palmetto Promise Research Fellow Jennifer Buckley was originally published in the Post and Courier. South Carolina’s dormant nuclear energy ambitions could be stirring back to life. Santee Cooper announced Jan. 22 that it is seeking proposals to acquire and complete, or propose alternatives for, the two partially constructed reactors at the V.C.

South Carolina advocate wins ‘Doer’ award for efforts to fund school choice

Education
Blog · January 27, 2025

This article by Adam Whittenberg was published in The Lion about Palmetto Promise President & CEO Wendy Damron’s recent award. When the South Carolina Supreme Court abruptly ended South Carolina’s school choice program just weeks into the school year, Wendy Damron didn’t take things lying down. Damron, who heads the Palmetto Promise Institute think tank,

School Choice Is Still Alive In South Carolina Despite Recent Setback

Education
Blog · October 23, 2024

This article by Patrick Gleason originally ran in Forbes. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D) and other opponents of expanded school choice celebrated the South Carolina Supreme Court’s September decision in Eidson et al. v. SC Department of Education et al, a ruling which blocked implementation of the state’s new Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF), an education

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

COMMENTARY: Kamala Harris’ housing plan is bad for South Carolina as state AG Alan Wilson has shown

Quality of Life
Blog · September 13, 2024

This op-ed by President Wendy Damron was originally published in The State. The old saying goes, “I’d rather have a workhorse than a showhorse.” South Carolina is fortunate to have a workhorse in Attorney General Alan Wilson. Since taking office in 2011, he has worked tirelessly to rein in the federal government’s overreach and reinvigorate