By Jessica Holdman
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — South Carolina’s early-career teachers could earn at least $47,000 a year, a $4,500 increase to state required minimums, under a measure approved by House budget writers Wednesday, Feb. 21.
The House education budget panel’s spending directs an extra $230 million to increase teacher salaries, edging the state closer to Gov. Henry McMaster’s call to lift the salary floor to $50,000 by 2026. It also marks a nearly $20,000 increase to starting salaries over the past decade.
The state’s largest teacher organization applauded the proposal, calling it a “meaningful commitment” to K-12 educators.
In 2019, some 10,000 frustrated teachers took to the Statehouse grounds in a protest over ballooning class sizes, heavy workloads and low pay.
The biggest win for the Palmetto State Teachers Association was a long-sought section in the plan upping the number of years teachers are eligible for a raise.
“Some of South Carolina’s most experienced and effective teachers have operated under a salary structure where they were ineligible for pay increases during the final years of their career,” according to a statement by the association.
Under the existing system, schools districts don’t have to pay educators any extra if they’ve been teaching more than 23 years. House lawmakers want to extend required pay boosts for veteran teachers to their 28th year in the classroom.
The proposal largely follows the governor’s budget proposal and recommendations released last May by a task force studying how to curb the state’s teacher shortage. This school year started with more than 1,600 vacancies, a 9% increase from the previous year, according to the state Center for Education Recruitment, Retention and Advancement’s annual report.
Unlike past measures, the House proposal did not provide an equal pay bump for teachers at every level. All teachers would see a boost from the plan, but those early in their career would see a greater increase in starting salary requirements.
Last year, the National Education Association ranked South Carolina’s starting teacher pay at 40th in the country, behind the national average of $43,000 in 2023 but ahead of neighboring states North Carolina and Georgia.
The House plan did not include all of McMaster’s proposed revamp of how teachers are paid. The governor had suggested collapsing the state salary schedule, which since 1977 has paid teachers based solely on their level of college degree and years of experience in the classroom, the S.C. Daily Gazette previously reported. Rather than smaller, annual increases, educators would have seen larger jumps every few years.
And while the House panel’s proposal sets minimum standards, school districts do have the option to pay teachers even more.
Jessica Holdman writes about the economy, workforce and higher education. Before joining the S.C. Daily Gazette, she was a business reporter for The Post and Courier.
