SC senators vote to limit debate, stop amending education overhaul bill
The South Carolina Senate voted Tuesday to limit the debate on a bill that supporters say would reform the state’s education system.
The vote for cloture — a rare procedural move used to end a filibuster and often a heavy lift in the state Senate — comes after weeks of debate over the bill. After previous attempts to limit the debate failed, a group of 25 Republican senators voted at about 4 p.m. to stop accepting new amendments to the bill and to put a time limit on the amount of discussion on remaining proposed changes.
The target of that vote, state Sen. Mike Fanning, D-Fairfield, has spent much of this year’s legislative session, more than six weeks, arguing against the proposed education bill and proposing dozens of amendments on the Senate floor.
On Tuesday, he called the vote “disappointing.”
“They voted to sit teachers down,” Fanning, a former teacher, said. “I’m very disappointed that the Senate voted today ... to shut down the ability for teachers to speak.”
The debate still could go on for hours, however.
While Fanning can’t introduce any new amendments, he said he has already proposed 148 more amendments that are on the desk and awaiting discussion and 45 other amendments were carried over from previous debate on the floor. Translation? If Fanning insists on debating each amendment, senators could be tied up with the debate for several more days.
The author of the bill, Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Horry, said Fanning was being “misleading” by saying Tuesday’s vote was a move against teachers.
“He’s not the teachers. He’s Mike Fanning. He’s a senator,” Hembree said. “It’s a rhetorical device to try to give him more authority than he has.”
Senate Majority LeaderShane Massey, R-Edgefield, proposed the vote Tuesday, saying the House, which passed a version of its own education reforms last year, would want a chance to look at the education reform bill soon.
“I think its always good to keep talking,” Massey said. “I think we’ve had some good conversations … but I think we’ve got to have a pathway to end this conversation.”
Doing something to improve public schools has been a top priority this and last year, driven in part by teachers who organized and formed a grassroots network demanding change: more time to teach, better pay and fewer mandates that cut into class time, to name a few reforms they seek. Their efforts peaked last May when 10,000 educators and their allies marched on the State House.
But in a twist, those teachers also have expressed support for Fanning, who says the Senate bill could do more to address their concerns.
Hembree said the vote for cloture was “an important step in moving the debate along.”
“We’ve spent an awful lot of time debating this bill so far,” he added.
Lawmakers also are fast approaching a deadline. If the bill doesn’t pass this year, it dies, and both the House and Senate will be forced to start the legislative process over next year.
“Optimistic” about education reform getting passed this year, Hembree predicted the bill would have a smoother path now that debate on it is limited. Still, he said, lawmakers have other big challenges on their plates that will eat into time, including deciding whether to sell state-owned Santee Cooper and adopting the state budget.
“Everybody is interested in improving our K-12 system in South Carolina,” Hembree said. “I think there’s a lot of motivation to do some meaningful work.”
‘He knew this was coming’
Discussion of the education bill has clogged up much of the Senate’s time since it was put on special order — or given a priority spot — on the first day of session. Senators have to tackle the education bill before they can move on to other issues, such as the budget.
This isn’t the first time that Fanning’s colleagues have tried to put a hard deadline on his time on the Senate floor. Last week, a cloture vote failed, with only 20 senators voting in favor of the motion, according to the Associated Press. Senators also tried to sit Fanning down Feb. 12, but did not have the votes to do so, the AP reported.
“He knew this was coming,” Hembree said. “It’s not a surprise. It’s not shocking.”
The education reform bill is a sweeping package that would touch many different areas of education, including: dealing with failing school districts, giving teachers more planning and grading time, and giving college-bound students incentives to study to become teachers.
Fanning isn’t the only opponent of the bill. He is joined by prominent teacher advocacy group SC for Ed, who has vowed to hold another massive rally at the State House if legislators don’t meet their demands for reform, including calls for less testing, higher pay and smaller class sizes.
Fanning said he proposed voting to remove the education bill from special order, allowing it to be tabled until the Legislature decided whether to sell, reform or relinquish management of state-owned utility Santee Cooper. Discussions over the utility have dominated much of the conversation at the State House over the last week.
The bill then could have been discussed after a decision was made about Santee Cooper or the topic of education reform could wait for the next year, Fanning said.
“To teachers in South Carolina, it’s better to get (education reform) done right than get it done now,” Fanning said.
This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 5:47 PM.
