By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | South Carolina’s public schools have 991 open positions with just days left before school starts, according to information compiled by teacher grassroots group SCforEd.
By law, schools must open before the third Monday in August, and each district sets its own calendar.
The information was gathered from district job portal sites, the group said. See the full list here.
The average number of vacant positions per school district is 12.2. Here are some of the school districts with the largest number of vacancies:
- Beaufort County has 72 vacancies; its starting salary is $39,928 (school starts Aug. 19);
- Charleston County has 84 vacancies; its starting salary is $38,897 (school starts Aug. 21); and,
- Richland One district has 99 vacancies’ its starting salary is $39,260 (school starts Aug. 21).
In the last few weeks, districts have halved the number of open positions, according to the study. In early July, there were 1,726 vacancies. At that time, Richland One had 304 vacancies. Another update to the data is planned for Aug. 18.
Why does this matter? SCforEd organizer Dottie Adams of Columbia said every vacancy stresses existing teachers, the administration and, ultimately, the school district.
“That represents the number of classrooms that won’t have a teacher … Some of those positions are representing 25 to 35 kids that won’t have a permanent teacher on the first day,” the 19-year teaching veteran said. She is starting her fourth year of teaching eighth grade science at Hand Middle School. “It’s a systemic problem that doesn’t have a simple answer.”
Adams said she’s “excited” about the coming year for teachers as the advocacy group is in its second year.
“There is still fear of retribution, but I am hopeful that we can start to move past this teachers versus administration versus districts versus the state, and move toward a common goal of improving education,” Adams said. “There’s a lot of advocacy going on around the state that wasn’t going on this time last year.”
In other news:
Fastest warming counties along coast, piedmont in S.C. The Washington Post compiled a list of county-by-county temperature increases (or, in some cases — all outside of South Carolina — decreases) since 1895. Some places around the nation saw a 2-degree Celsius increase. Oconee County warmed the least with a 0.2-degree increase. The counties in South Carolina that warmed the most were:
- Spartanburg and Greenville counties with a 0.8 degree increase;
- Charleston and Dillon counties with a 0.7 degree increase; and,
- Marlboro, Berkeley, Dorchester, Horry, Union, Marion, Laurens, Newberry, Colleton, Lancaster, Darlington and Chesterfield counties with a 0.6 degree increase. Read more.
Abortion returns early. A Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee will begin weighing the so-called heartbeat abortion ban that was passed by the House in April. The meeting is set for 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sept. 10 in room 105 of the Gressette building in Columbia. The proposal would ban most abortions in the state once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is typically around the sixth week after conception.
State posts another surplus, warned to spend it on pensions. The state coffers have $350 million more than lawmakers thought they should have from the 2018-2019 fiscal year, according to a release from S.C. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom this week. To put that number in perspective, the state spent $159 million in this year’s budget to fund teacher pay raises. Like last year’s $177 million surplus, Eckstrom released his end-of-year analysis and findings with a request: use the surplus to make a dent in the state’s pensions.
“South Carolina faces a dangerous ticking time bomb. The state retiree pension plans face a whopping shortfall of $24 billion, and I’d argue that it’s perhaps the most serious problem we face. Across the country, retirement systems which have ignored mounting pension shortfalls have been forced to take drastic measures – steep tax hikes, deep cuts in services, and reductions in pension benefits for retirees,” he wrote. “While this year’s $350 million surplus is certainly great news, we’d be foolish to once again miss this opportunity to apply some of it toward our unfunded pension liabilities.”
- You may recall the 2019-2020 year is projected to see an additional $1 billion come into state coffers — not just from the $177 million general fund revenue, but also from sources like the state lottery. Previous coverage on how lawmakers sought to spend that money in the coming year’s budget.
Senate panel to meet on USC Board of Trustees. A subcommittee of the Senate Education Committee will meet 10 a.m. Aug. 20 in room 308 of the Gressette building. The panel will discuss a bill seeking to shrink the size of the University of South Carolina’s Board of Trustees. See the agenda.
Oremus wins Aiken House seat. A Republican special primary runoff for S.C. House District 84 was won by Melissa Oremus this week. No Democrat filed for the Oct. 1 election. Barring a win by a write-in candidate, Oremus will likely head to the S.C. House representing Aiken. The seat became open after the death of GOP Rep. Ronnie Young.
Senate panel to begin talks on raising prosecution age. A select Senate committee will begin a discussion on raising minimum age where a person can be prosecuted for crimes. The current age is 17. The first meeting is 1 p.m. Aug. 20 in room 105 of the Gressette building. Agenda here.
Affordable housing strains S.C. budget. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has tabulated that the lack of affordable housing costs the state $8 billion in public assistance and charity, according to this story by WSPA. The state reportedly is short more than 80,000 affordable housing units. The S.C. State Housing Finance and Development Authority will release its own study Aug. 26.
S.C. has $2B water problem. The American Society of Civil Engineers says water systems across the state will need nearly $2 billion in repairs. The repairs are mostly needed in small, rural towns. Read more.
2020 candidate calendar
Throughout the campaign season, we are working to keep South Carolina informed of candidate events in the state. Have an event you want us to know about? Email us at 2020news@statehousereport.com.
Buttigieg sweeps South Carolina. South Bend, Ind., Mayor and Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg will spend two days this weekend in South Carolina. Here are the events:
- Rural roundtable noon Aug. 17 at American Legion Hut in Hampton;
- Rural roundtable 3 p.m. Aug. 17 at Church of the Redeemer in Pineville;
- College of Charleston Bully Pulpit series 5:15 p.m. Aug. 17 at Albert Simons Center for the Arts in Charleston;
- Church service 10 a.m. Aug. 18 at Bethel AME in Georgetown; and,
- Town hall 2 p.m. Aug. 18 at Jerusalem Baptist Church in Hartsville.
Pints and Politics with Amy Klobuchar. The Post and Courier politics team will host Democratic candidate U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota 2 p.m. Aug. 17 at Tradesman Brewing in Mount Pleasant.
Pence to make S.C. stop. Republican Vice President Mike Pence will headline U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan’s Faith and Freedom Barbecue 4 p.m. Aug. 26 at Anderson Sports & Entertainment Center in Anderson.
Sanders to host three events. Independent Vermont Sen. and Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders will visit the state Aug. 18 to Aug. 19. Here are the events:
- Lunch noon Aug. 18 at Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia;
- Townhall 2 p.m. Aug. 18 at Greenview Park Gym in Columbia; and,
- Block Party “On the Hill” 3:30 p.m. at 1432 Crosshill Road, Hopkins.
Warren to talk in Aiken. Democratic presidential hopeful and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will host a town hall 5:45 p.m. Aug. 17 at USC Aiken Business and Education Building in Aiken.
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