FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DeVos Foundation Donates $250,000 to Palmetto Promise Institute’s ESTF Families Rescue Fund COLUMBIA, SC — The Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation has made a generous $250,000 donation to the ESTF Families Fund, an initiative launched by Palmetto Promise Institute to assist low-income families impacted by the South Carolina Supreme Court’s decision to

To justify its decision striking down Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) grants for low- and moderate-income K-12 students in September of last year (2024), the South Carolina Supreme Court presented a Palmetto State history lesson, but it was a perverse one. In the majority’s peculiar characterizations of South Carolina’s past, the words of arch-racist Ben

Palmetto Promise President and CEO Wendy Damron is honored to have been featured on the State Policy Network’s Neighbors in the Network podcast this week. Read about her interview and check out the whole episode below! When the South Carolina Supreme Court unexpectedly ruled mid-school year against the state’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund, thousands of low-income students suddenly faced

Jeb Bush writes that thousands of students “could finally afford the education of their dreams” with the state’s proposed Education Scholarship Trust Fund.

Below, you can find press releases and media coverage of Palmetto Promise Institute’s ESTF Families Rescue Fund, which helps pay the tuition of families in South Carolina’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund program whose scholarships were ripped away by the SC Supreme Court. To learn more or contribute, contact Wendy Damron at wendy@palmettopromise.org or donate here

This piece by Adam Whittenberg originally published in The Lion cites Palmetto Promise’s ESTF Family Rescue Fund work. South Carolina is one step closer to restoring school choice after the state House passed a school choice plan Wednesday. By a 79-38 vote, the Republican-controlled House approved a plan to fund private school scholarships from the general budget.

This week, the House Education & Public Works Committee held a hearing on the bill that would restore school choice in South Carolina following the SC Supreme Court’s decision that left thousands of SC families with their promised scholarships ripped away. S.62 as passed by the South Carolina Senate would reinstate Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs)

We are grateful to the South Carolina Senate for its recent passage of S.62, a bill by Education Chairman Greg Hembree that aims to restore school choice in South Carolina following the SC Supreme Court’s Eidson decision that left thousands of SC families with their promised scholarships ripped away. The legislation passed after several weeks

Teacher shortages have become a persistent problem for South Carolina’s public schools. But with new bills being proposed every legislative session to address this crisis, it’s hard to keep up with all the proposed changes.  At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school session there were 1,043 teacher vacancies compared to the prior year’s 1,613 vacancies. To

This op-ed by Francesca Flores was originally published in The Greenville News. Imagine being a parent, watching your child thrive in a school that meets their unique needs — only to have that opportunity suddenly taken away. That is what happened to low-income families in the Palmetto State. Now that South Carolina’s legislative session has