SC education bill set to pass in the House. Black lawmakers hope to improve it first
A massive education bill is expected to sail through the S.C. House when it comes up for debate Wednesday, propelled by the chamber’s Republican leadership and broad bipartisan support.
But before the vote, several black lawmakers are vowing to fight for what they say are needed improvements, members of the all Democratic Legislative Black Caucus said Tuesday.
Among the proposals that some Democratic lawmakers want added to the bill are measures to mandate a reduction in bloated classroom sizes and a lunch period for teachers. They also want removed from the bill a proposal to create an advisory committee that would study education and workforce issues from age zero through college.
The education proposal, whose lead sponsor is House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, calls for raising the state’s minimum starting teacher pay to $35,000, up from $32,000. Money to raise teachers’ starting pay, part of a $159 million tab to cover teacher pay raises, already has been added to the state’s proposed $9.3 billion state budget.
Under the House proposal, the state’s education superintendent also would have more flexibility to take over low-performing schools and school districts and it would seek to consolidate small, mostly rural school districts with fewer than 1,000 students.
A bipartisan House group of legislators have sought to build consensus around the bill, trying to ease the concerns of teachers’ and their colleagues. Some argue the bill does little to fix the teacher shortage or ensure struggling students get a quality education.
But others urge lawmakers to be patient.
“While this is going to be a wholesale change (to education), it’s not going to be the last step,” said House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, a co-sponsor of the bill. “It’s still evolving. Everyone realizes we can’t leave things the way they were.”
Tuesday, the Black Caucus said it plans to offer more than a dozen amendments including one that would require the state to provide a high-quality education to students, surpassing the “minimally adequate” standard echoed in a 2014 S.C. Supreme Court decision that ordered the state to do more for its poorest school districts.
Republican lawmakers also are expected to push changes to the bill in Wednesday’s debate.
“If they are serious about improving the quality of education, ... if we’re going to hold teachers and parents accountable, then we doggone sure need to hold the General Assembly accountable,” said Caucus chair Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, one of nearly 100 lawmakers who are supporting the bill as co-sponsors. “The best way to do that is to say up front that we are committed to a high-quality education in this state.”
Members of the Legislative Black Caucus said they want the minimum teacher pay raised beyond $35,000.
Rutherford said he’d like to see that pay raised, too.
“The biggest thing is making sure South Carolina is not last in education, and that’s our goal is to simply not be last,” Rutherford said. “We truly need to try to be first.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2019 at 5:00 AM with the headline "SC education bill set to pass in the House. Black lawmakers hope to improve it first."
