Staff reports | South Carolina now has more open teaching jobs than ever before, according to the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement.
According to its latest report, there were 1,613 unfilled K-12 educator jobs at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. That’s a 10% increase from the 1,474 openings reported a year ago – and more than double of the 699 openings three years ago.
The shortage has teachers worried, according to the S.C. Education Association..
“Stopping the educator shortage is one of our most important priorities,” said SCEA President Sherry East. “Each of these vacancies represent a classroom in which students are left without the highly-qualified and credentialed educators they deserve.”
The group added that for the 2023-2024 school year, public school districts in South Carolina reported 7,353 teacher departures. The previous year there were 8,321.
“The existing teacher shortage continues to be a five-alarm fire,” East said. “Our legislature’s highest priority must be meaningfully addressing this crisis. Our elected officials need to listen to educators, improve our working conditions, and take meaningful, substantive action to recruit and retain quality educators. Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions, and South Carolina children deserve the best conditions we can provide.”
Meanwhile this week, S.C. Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver proposed teacher pay bumps of $1,500a year to every cell of the state’s minimum teachers’ salary schedule. But the proposed boost came with a catch – school districts would have to add five more days to a teacher’s school year.
In other South Carolina news:
Williamson to campaign across state. Democratic presidential candidate and author Marianne Williamson knows she’s not likely to win the S.C. presidential primary in February, particularly since President Joe Biden locked in his eventual nomination here in 2020. But that’s not stopping her from spreading the message that the country needs big change to heal economic injustice. Williamson, who has written several popular books often described as self-help guides, will be in Charleston 6 p.m. Friday for a talk at Buxton Books. She’ll also meet, greet and campaign in Beaufort on Saturday, Myrtle Beach on Sunday, Columbia and Rock Hill on Monday, and Clemson on Tuesday.
Haley gets important national support. Former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign got a huge boost Tuesday ahead of the Republican primary, as Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the powerful Koch network, formally endorsed her. The group is expected to provide a big influx of money and support as she seeks to win the party’s nomination over former President Donald Trump. Meanwhile in a Bluffton rally this week, Haley told supporters that the nation didn’t need the chaos that follows the frontrunner, Trump.
Trump attends Palmetto Bowl as billboards taunt visit. Former President Donald Trump attended Saturday’s USC-Clemson football game as he and thousands of fans encountered seven electronic billboards around Columbia highlighting an anti-Trump message: “You lost. You’re guilty. Welcome to Columbia, Donald.” At the game, Trump got cheers and a few boos, according to the Associated Press.
Thanksgiving weekend was filled with gun violence. Media across the state reported several deaths due to guns since Thanksgiving, including a deadly Sunday afternoon shooting in which a North Charleston man died inside his home. A 30-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder. Other fatalities included a 6-year-old Orangeburg child in a hunting accident; another person in an alleged accidental shooting death in Laurens County; one person in Richland County; one in Greenville; and another in Florence. At least seven others were hurt over the long weekend in shootings across the state, according to media reports.
S.C. business leaders warn of affordable child care shortage. The Council for a Strong America and Ready Nation on behalf of state business leaders reported South Carolina’s current child care system falls well short of the needs of Palmetto State employers and their workers, many of whom do not have access to child care. The study also reported a $1 billion loss annually for the state due to lack of childcare.
City of Charleston to address ‘loophole’ in plastic bag ban. Charleston is in the process of closing what they call a loophole to their ban on single-use plastic bags by clarifying the differences between a reusable plastic bag and single-use plastic bag.
Lowcountry judge to not serve 2nd term after failed selection vote. A Lowcountry judge who’s come under fire for lenient sentences and bond decisions will not serve a second term on the bench after he did not get enough votes to move forward in the judicial selection process.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!