Palmetto Freedom Agenda 2025-26
Education
Open Enrollment
In South Carolina, we no longer segregate children in public libraries, parks, or swimming pools based of the color of their skin or their family’s income. But what about public schools?
Most low- and moderate-income parents don’t have any public options besides their zip-code assigned school. South Carolina’s new public education funding formula (2022) is more student-centered than ever. These financial reforms make freedom of choice within a district or even across district lines (also known as “open enrollment”) possible.
Enact universal education scholarship accounts
Over 2,800 South Carolina students were awarded the initial Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) grants for the 2024-25 school year. These scholarships empowered parents of modest means the ability to enjoy private options for the first time, and with the SC Supreme Court’s Eidson decision, these families are left in limbo. We have a long way to go.
For comparison, Florida awarded 136,087 ESA scholarships last year. With a wrongly-decided State Supreme Court decision in the rear view, we now have a roadmap to constitutionality that will allow the ESTF program to both pass legal muster and grow exponentially with universal eligibility.
Parents’ Bill of Rights
Regulations passed in 2024 provide parents a window into what is being taught in their child’s public school. These regs also ensure that books and course materials are age appropriate. A broader Parents’ Bill of Rights statute would codify curriculum transparency into permanent law.
Livestreaming the People’s Business
Many municipal and county councils livestream their meetings or broadcast meetings on local access cable or both. The General Assembly follows this practice as well.
It is called legislating in the sunlight. The current system is a patchwork of 79 district rules and policies. South Carolina needs a statewide law requiring all school districts to livestream their board meetings.
Free Speech in Higher Education
Recent events have pointed to the importance of clear, comprehensive policies on free speech on college campuses. Several South Carolina state universities have adopted outstanding free expression policies and have paid a price for it.
A statewide law along the lines of the popular FORUM Act model legislation would bring consistency to the right to free speech on campus across all state institutions.
