SC House OKs state money for teacher pay bumps, charter school enrollment surge
South Carolina public school teachers are on track to see some extra pay in their final paycheck of the school year.
The S.C. House on Thursday voted unanimously to spend up to $50 million to pay for the state portion of annual pay bumps the state’s Kindergarten through 12th-grade public school teachers receive each year based on their education levels and years of experience.
An average teacher would see an additional $650, before taxes, in their final paycheck of the school year. The money would apply retroactively for the current school year.
Some teachers still received a pay bump this year through their local school districts who used local dollars to help pay for an annual increase.
The state’s salary schedule provides an annual pay bump through 23 years. Some districts go beyond the 23 years including one district that reaches a 32nd step.
Money for the step increases would come from a contingency fund, according to the legislation, which the Senate needs to approve.
The step increase was included in a budget passed by Senate last year. However, that spending plan was not approved by the House in the fall. Instead, lawmakers chose to keep spending levels the same as the 2019-20 fiscal year because of the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, House members are going forward with this supplemental spending as revenues to the state have seen some modest growth.
“This is a really important move by the General Assembly to reaffirm the state’s commitment to our teachers who continue to show their commitment to our students, while teaching through the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis,” said Patrick Kelly, director of Governmental Affairs for the Palmetto State Teachers Association.
More education spending
Lawmakers in the House on Thursday also approved spending an additional $9 million for the Public Charter School District and the Charter Institute at Erskine because those schools have seen an increase in enrollment amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
As parents looked for other options for their students, enrollment in charter schools increased by 9,000 students this year or about 25%. The charter school districts have a waiting list of 41,000 students, which is equal to the current enrollment in the state’s charter schools.
“The demand is off the charts,” said Cameron Runyan the CEO for Erskine.
The additional money will help meet a financial shortfall for this school year as the charter schools needed to add teachers and materials to serve the additional students, Runyan said.
The charter school districts “are about to exhaust the pot of money that is sitting there to fund these students,” Runyan said.
Erskine had 7,000 of the new students because it had several virtual schools already operating before the pandemic, giving those schools previous experience at offering a virtual education where other schools were still adjusting to the new method.
The South Carolina Public Charter school district added 2,000 students after its schools offered in-person instruction five days a week, while putting shields on desks, using personal protective equipment and adhering to social distancing guidelines among other things, said Chris Neeley, the superintendent for the public charter school district.
“We’ve been able to give students face-to-face instruction opportunity,” Neeley said. “That’s really what kids need.”
