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“S” is for 6-0-1 Law

“S” is for 6-0-1 Law (1924). The 6-0-1 Law, passed in March 1924, guaranteed at least a seven-month school term for all White children. Additionally, it shifted the financial responsibility away from local districts, which often lacked resources, to the state. Under the law, the state paid all teacher salaries for six months--provided that local school districts paid for one month. Counties were encouraged but not required to supply additional funding to further expand the school term. Prior to this act, local districts funded their own schools largely from property taxes. Consequently, school terms varied widely depending on the resources and property values in individual districts. Although in many ways progressive, the 6-0-1 Law nevertheless reinforced South Carolina's commitment to a racially segregated education system because its provisions did not apply to African Americans.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.