By Skyler Baldwin, special to Statehouse Report | Members of the S.C. House of Representatives unanimously passed a joint resolution Tuesday to reinstate an annual teacher pay increase by spending $50 million from the state’s Contingency Reserve Fund for the 2020-2021 school year. The bill, H. 3609, now heads to the state Senate.
“Unfreezing and funding the step increase is keeping a promise to teachers and the right thing to do,” said Sumter GOP Rep. Murrell Smith, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. “The pandemic has hit South Carolina hard, but our teachers have continued to work helping our students through these difficult circumstances.”
S.C. lawmakers suspended step increases last fall when school started due to pandemic-related budget concerns, but leaders promised they would review the decision in January.
“I’m very excited that the overwhelming majority of fellow House members agreed to take care of promises made for all of our teachers across the state by putting the step increase in place,” said freshman S.C. Rep. Mark Smith, R-Berkeley. “Our teachers and administrators are all doing the very best they can to educate our children during these challenging times.”
State Rep. Gil Gatch, R-Dorchester, said he also was thrilled about the bill’s passing, particularly the retroactive lump sum provision. And, he isn’t the only one. “Representatives wanted to get that money to the teachers as fast as possible and as easy as possible,” he said.
Raises will boost morale, teachers say
The renewed step increase resolution isn’t the first time teachers and advocates have depended on state lawmakers to fulfill promises of higher pay for South Carolina educators. Public school teachers and state workers rallied in 2019 at the state capitol in Columbia to persuade lawmakers to provide higher pay and increase education funding.
“This helps our already tight budgets, and the fact that lawmakers, administrators and teachers are all on board with this is a great step forward,” said Matthew Fuentes of Mount Pleasant. “This is something that’s great to see.”
Fuentes, who teaches at Beckham High School in Mount Pleasant, said he believes the coming together of many different people rallying behind teachers is a result of the pandemic. “It’s been made clear what teachers do every day — how hard the job is, how important student achievement is and how important it is for students to be in school.”
Advocacy groups for teachers applauded the resolution.
“We think it’s a really important piece of legislation to address the growing teacher shortage in South Carolina,” said Patrick Kelly, director of government affairs for the Palmetto State Teachers Association. “It addresses some of the morale issues teachers are facing due to the experiences they’ve had over the last 12 months due to the pandemic.”
Sherry East, president of the S.C. Education Association, agreed.
“The SCEA is thrilled and grateful that the House has honored their commitment to making the step increase a priority at the beginning of the session,” she said. “We hope the Senate will move quickly and we can get this money in the hands of our teachers.”
Morale issues, advocates say, are the leading cause of teachers leaving the field as well as the lack of incoming teachers as well. However, the work is far from done for teachers in the state.
“To see administrators, teachers and lawmakers all on the same page is a good first step,” Fuentes said. “But, asking or wanting more — is that still on our minds? Absolutely. If you look at where our state’s salaries rank next to the rest of the country, of course it’s still on our minds.”
Fuentes also cites teacher turnover rates as a problem. The state is losing educated and motivated teachers because they can’t live on the salary they are being paid, he said. According to reports from last November, more than 50 teachers had resigned since the start of the fall semester, and the trend has only continued.
Other proposals may be fairer to veteran teachers
Some advocates say the step increase, an average of 2 percent per teacher, is welcome and appreciated, but isn’t the solution for some teachers in the state. According to the measure, the state-issued increase bumps salaries for teachers every year up to 23 years. Teachers who have worked longer than that are ineligible for the raise.
“That’s why we have advocated for either increasing the steps or at least including a [cost-of-living adjustment], so that all faculty would be able to see some slight increase over last year’s compensation,” Charleston Teacher Association Director Jody Stallings said.
“Teachers are grateful for the $500 bonuses given earlier this year,” he said. “But, experienced teachers will be disappointed when the retroactive increases are applied and they are left out.”
Some legislators agree that more can be done for teachers beyond the step increases. Mark Smith, for example, told Statehouse Report that his focus is moving toward vaccinations for educators.
“Educators are exhausted and overwhelmed right now,” East said. “Knowing the step increase is on its way to reality is a ‘step’ or move in the right direction.”
Skyler Baldwin is a staff writer for the Charleston City Paper, which published an earlier version of this story. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
I am thrilled and grateful that the teachers received the promised increase as well as future increases. My daughter is a fourth grade teacher and I have friends that are educators. I know first hand how difficult and challenging the job is. What about educators and staff in higher education, which includes the technical college system? What about state employees? State employees have not had a salary increase in four years. There are morale issues in state government as well and it is difficult to recruit and retain employees in state government. I applaud what is being done for our teachers but let’s also include the other state employees as well.
Since a pay raise has been approved for teachers, what about the other school staff since it takes everyone in the schools to make it work.