FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY 15, 2024 COLUMBIA — This spring marked the first year of applications for South Carolina’s brand new Education Scholarship Account (ESA) program, the Education Scholarship Trust Fund. In the short two-month application window from January 15 to March 15, the South Carolina Department of Education received an astounding 7,907 applications for

On the last day of the legislative session, the crucially important bill to restructure South Carolina’s badly fractured health agencies was stalled due to a last-ditch procedural move. This delay is a disservice to all South Carolinians. Our state health agencies are in dire need of reform. This is a truth leaders have recognized for decades,

As you read these words, a Conference Committee of the South Carolina Senate and House has been tasked with hammering out a state budget for the year that begins on July 1, 2024. There are instances where the House and Senate versions differ, and there are 353 pages of “provisos,” the instructions that the legislature

Palmetto Promise Policy Analyst Felicity Ropp is quoted in this article from the Center Square by T.A. Defoe.    (The Center Square) — A legislative conference committee will soon hash out differences in a measure to reform South Carolina’s Judicial Merit Selection Commission. Last week, the South Carolina House passed S. 1046, a bill reforming the

Palmetto Promise Policy Analyst Felicity Ropp was quoted in this article by T.A. Defoe in the Center Square. (The Center Square) — The South Carolina House passed a bill to reform the state’s Judicial Merit Selection Commission, changes that stem from the Ad Hoc Committee to Examine the Judicial Selection and Retention Process House Speaker

After a year of silence on the issue, the South Carolina General Assembly is finally taking steps to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the South Carolina Transparency and Integrity in Education Act (H.3728) and send it to the Governor to be signed into law. Palmetto Promise has advocated for this important legislation that

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we’d like to draw attention to important legislation aimed at addressing South Carolina’s teacher shortage. South Carolina’s teacher shortage is one of the major problems facing education in our state. At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, there were roughly 1,600 teacher vacancies statewide, a 9% increase from the previous

Learn more about our June 22 event with the Carolinas Academic Leadership Network. Whether you are a community member who wants to learn how to make a difference and find out what to look for in a good candidate, or a school board candidate who wants to run an effective campaign and fight for our public schools, this Primer is for you!

This spring, there have been several bills moving through the General Assembly that would streamline licensing for healthcare professionals and ensure South Carolinians have more choices in healthcare.   These healthcare freedom reforms are much needed here in South Carolina. Following last year’s repeal of the burdensome Certificate of Need (CON) statute that prevented healthcare from

At Palmetto Promise, we are always reluctant to question any move by the South Carolina General Assembly to cut taxes or flatten tax rates. So, we greet with joy the fact that in the wake of an estimated $500-$600 million state revenue surplus that has built up since 2020, the Senate and the House are