SC Superintendent Ellen Weaver wants another term. Here’s who wants to oust her
As state Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver seeks a second four-year term in office, she’ll have to fend off attacks that she is pushing a political agenda in classrooms rather than caring about students’ education.
Weaver, a Republican, formally kicked off her re-election bid in October.
“When we pair high expectations with high support, our students rise,” Weaver said in a news release. “We’ve proven that South Carolina can lead the nation in literacy, safety and innovation. Now it’s time to build on that momentum and finish the job.”
But two Democratic hopefuls, both educators, have launched campaigns for the statewide office: Lisa Ellis and Sylvia Wright. They say Weaver has pushed a partisan agenda in classrooms, pointing to efforts to remove books, and also contend how classroom environments have not improved for teachers.
Weaver’s campaign declined to make the superintendent available for an interview, but Luke Byars, a senior advisor to Weaver, said in a statement the superintendent has built “strong partnerships” with teachers, parents and community leaders, and it is showing in student outcomes.
“Her opponents are disconnected from reality and stuck in their own left wing echo chamber,” Byars said in a statement. “Ellen is focused on the real work of providing high quality instruction and materials for students.”
Lisa Ellis
Ellis, the director of student activities at Blythewood High School and who teaches a leadership class, was the Democratic nominee for the office in 2022. She founded the teacher movement “S.C. for Ed” which in 2019 organized a large rally on the State House grounds that drew thousands of people.
“In 2026, this race is about a simple choice: Do we want education driven by extreme agendas, or do we want leadership grounded in the classroom, fighting for every child’s future?” Ellis said in a statement. “I believe South Carolina families will choose students, teachers and strong public schools.”
Ellis received more than 700,000 votes as she lost to Weaver in the 2022 general election. Ellis’ total was the most out of any statewide Democratic candidate, but Weaver still garnered more than 937,000 votes. Ellis again has to balance being an educator with being a candidate, both being full-time jobs.
Ellis said in an interview that policies added in recent years have made more difficult for teachers in public schools to meet the needs of students.
“Things haven’t gotten better for teachers,” Ellis said.
Ellis specifically criticized efforts by Weaver to remove books from schools and libraries and the General Assembly’s move to push educational scholarship accounts, sometimes referred to as vouchers, that allow families to take public dollars and spend them in private schools.
“It is a shot at Ellen Weaver, but also a shot at the South Carolina legislature that continues to push vouchers, continues to under fund public schools, continues to change funding formulas and all of that as well,” Ellis said.
Ellis is critical of Weaver’s partnership with Prager U, a right-wing advocacy group that claims to arm people with the “intellectual ammunition” to advocate for “limited government, individual responsibility and economic freedom.” Ellis also points to how Weaver did not want the South Carolina schools to follow the Biden Administration’s guidance on Title IX.
“Her focus has been on policies in terms of how children identify, in terms of pronouns and things like that, removing certain aspects of history we can talk about, what I would say again, the whitewashing of history and what teachers you know can and can’t teach,” Ellis said.
Ellis also pointed to how school report cards were delayed earlier this year as the Department of Education finalized data.
“We’ve looked at just some of the missteps with the Department of Education in terms of the fact that it’s taken forever for test scores to be released, which doesn’t help teachers in planning for their curriculum,” Ellis said.
Sylvia Wright
Wright has worked as a middle school and high school teacher in South Carolina, Maryland, Texas and Louisiana, as she moved around with her husband who was in the Air Force. She also has worked as an adjunct professor at Charleston Southern University.
“I love middle school. That’s my jam,” Wright said. “But the one thing I appreciated about the college level is the conversation, the level of maturity and the flexibility too, that I had.”
In addition to being a classroom teacher, she also has worked as a curriculum coordinator in schools and for Dorchester School District 4.
“As a parent, grandparent and teacher, I am appalled by the constant attacks on the character of teachers and the teaching profession,” Wright wrote in an op-ed released when she launched her campaign. “The politicization of education is elevating the education crisis in our state, and our children and grandchildren are the victims.”
Wright also said in an interview the Department of Education needs to build relationships with teachers, school librarians, parents and local school districts.
Wright was critical of the cancellation of AP African American Studies, a majority of students not reading at grade level, Weaver encouraging districts to investigate unprofessional educator conduct in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination, and Weaver’s decision to have the Department of Education end its partnership with the S.C. Association of School Librarians.
“We’re supposed to look out for each other. I’m not saying cover things up and all that, but I’m saying, like, be there, support each other. She’s just missing that,” Wright said.
“Now she’s shown her hand, so people can see a difference between someone who is a political superintendent versus what with someone with an educational background,” Wright added.
Campaign cash situation
Weaver, being a Republican incumbent in a reliably Republican state, has the cash advantage. Whoever takes on Weaver head-to-head, they will take on an incumbent who is expected to be well-funded.
According to 2025 third quarter fundraising reports, Weaver had already spent more than $26,000 this year on her campaign and had $42,000 cash on hand.
Ellis had $17,000 in the bank at the end of the third quarter.
Wright has $1,500 in the bank. She has been preparing for almost two years. She started raising money in January of last year.
Will another candidate jump in?
Weaver may get a primary challenger. River Bluff High School teacher Michael Burgess was previously involved with the Lexington County Republican Party.
Burgess, who is not working with any political consultants or raising money for a run, however, has been traveling the state giving speeches to groups about the importance of U.S. history education and how it needs to be expanded. After a recent talk to a local chapter of the Colonial Dames of America at the Forest Lakes Club in Columbia, Burgess heard from members that he should run for state superintendent.
In his prepared remarks, Burgess goes beyond a history lesson. He talks about the pitfalls of standardized testing and how teachers are demoralized and overwhelmed.
“Even more disconcerting are that our schools have become the focus of the culture wars, our classrooms serve as battlefields and our students as the pawns of each side,” Burgess said. “Teachers, in the midst of this cultural struggle feel like Custer at his last stand, fired on from all sides with the hopes of success fading.”
