schools

The South Carolina Senate has passed a bill establishing education scholarship accounts. The measure creates $6,000 vouchers funded by public tax money intended to help cover the cost of K-12 private school tuition and other expenses. The move brings South Carolina one step closer to enacting a long-sought Republican priority that has seen a revived push nationwide in other GOP-led legislatures.

A program in Charleston is trying to make the teaching profession more accessible to Black men, who are vastly underrepresented in classrooms in South Carolina and around the United States. Just 7% of America's public school teachers were Black during the 2017-18 school year although Black students make up 15% of the student population, according to the most recently available data from the National Center for Education Statistics. The program in Charleston, Men of CHS Teach, places new teachers in elementary classrooms even if they haven't participated in a student teacher program.

The USDA has paid for school breakfast and lunch for all students for more than two years. When that stops on July 1, school districts and parents might have to contend with food insecurity in ways they weren't expecting amid rising inflation and choked supply chains.

Marlboro County High School Principal Jamane Watson and three of his staff will not be back next school year. On Tuesday, district students showed their opinion on that.

South Carolina's highest court on Thursday tossed out a school mask mandate in Columbia, saying it contradicts a state budget measure aimed at preventing face covering requirements.

The American Civil Liberties Union, representing disability rights groups and parents of children with disabilities, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday over a South Carolina law that bans school districts from requiring face masks, arguing the ban excludes vulnerable students from public schools.

On this episode of the South Carolina Lede for August 21, 2021, we look at the current COVID-19 situation in the state, including the debate over masks in schools, the latest case numbers, vaccination recommendations for pregnant women, and much more.

Some Republican governors are using federal pandemic assistance to promote school choice programs, including charter schools and vouchers for private schools. The money comes with few strings attached, and it lets them sidestep legislative approval.

South Carolina’s top prosecutor on Thursday sued the state’s capital city over a school mask mandate that officials allege violates state law.

South Carolina education officials say they can't follow updated federal guidelines recommending indoor mask use at schools nationwide, even for vaccinated students. Legislation that went into effect July 1 prohibits school districts in South Carolina from using appropriated funds “to require that its students and/or employees wear a face mask.”