Blog Posts

This article originally appeared on palmettopromise.org  The January legislative session is fast approaching and conversations about top priorities are heating up. Nothing is more critical to South Carolina’s future—and preserving access to the American Dream—than the issue of education. That’s why one of PPI’s has worked tirelessly over the years to see South Carolina finally join the ranks of states like… Read More

This article was first published on palmettopromise.org Two Wall Street Journal articles published in early September (September 4th and September 13th) documented the growing shortage of bus drivers, both across the country and in the state of Massachusetts specifically, where Governor Charlie Baker is enlisting the National Guard… Read More

This article was first published on palmettopromise.org As Palmetto Promise has previously reported, South Carolina public schools are on the receiving end of an “unprecedented” $3.4 billion in one-time pandemic-related funds. This is on top of the estimated $10.7 billion K-12 public schools are already slated to receive… Read More

U.S. Senator Tim Scott recently addressed the top concerns in the minds of parents seeking to go back to face to face learning by hosting a Back To School Parent Town Hall on Facebook Live. Yvette DeMaria, a fellow South Carolinian and My SC Education “Education Choice Ambassador,”… Read More

This article was first published on palmettopromise.org Today—August 12, 2021—is the 159th anniversary of the birth of Julius Rosenwald. Rosenwald, a businessman and philanthropist, was born in Springfield, Illinois in 1862. His is truly a life worth celebrating. In the early 20th century, Julius Rosenwald was inspired by Booker T. Washington’s… Read More

This article was first published on palmettopromise.org Palmetto State schools are seeing what South Carolina’s Department of Education has dubbed an “unprecedented” influx of money from the federal government. Between the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds in the CARES Act, CARES II, and American Rescue Plan, the SCDE and South Carolina’s 81 school districts will receive a whopping $3.3 billion in federal “emergency” COVID… Read More

This article was first published on palmettopromise.org We are honored and excited to partner today with U.S. Senator Tim Scott to unveil a special online Center dedicated to Palmetto Promise’s education work: The Artis Ware Center for Education Opportunity. Named to honor the inspiring personal legacy of Senator Scott’s… Read More

Don’t miss this conversation Dr. Shaunette Parker had with Susan Blackwell, who is an education consultant in South Carolina, specializing in consulting homeschooling parents who have children with special needs. As COVID-19 has shifted the way many of us view the delivery of education, Susan’s insight could not come at… Read More

This article was first published on palmettopromise.org When Palmetto Promise Institute released our report Stronger Together: Expanding Opportunity Through School District Consolidation (Fall, 2018), we had no idea what kind of reception it would receive. After all, State Superintendent Molly Spearman had just lamented that “consolidation” was a word that she hesitated to even speak out loud. She had… Read More

This article was first published on palmettopromise.org This article originally appeared in The Post & Courier.  Patrick Kelly of the Palmetto State Teachers’ Association contended in a recent op-ed that the education scholarship account program proposed in H.3976 would not be accountable, affordable or accessible. While I echo his calls… Read More