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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Legislature's court-ordered report on fixing South Carolina's education system touts roughly $400 million in budget increases and four new laws passed this year, including one asking college students what would entice them to teach in poor districts.
The state Supreme Court gave legislators an end-of-session deadline for developing a plan to improve South Carolina schools, after ruling in November 2014 that poor, rural students lack educational opportunities.
"The effort of the Senate and the House to improve public education in S.C. is ongoing," concludes the report filed Wednesday. While the session's over, that's "not the end of the effort."
The 18-page report lists eight bills introduced in the House — four of which passed — and 18 items in the 2016-17 budget, including $9 million going to dozens of high-poverty districts for salary boosts. The report also details meetings held this year by legislative panels created to study the issue.
New laws listed in the report include those defining the expectations of a high school graduate and creating an "Office of Transformation" in the Department of Administration.
State schools Superintendent Molly Spearman said she's in the process of hiring 30 "transformation coaches" to help struggling districts, which will rebuild a support system originally set up in the state's 1998 Education Accountability Act.
"Improving access to quality education for every child in South Carolina is a process that requires careful consideration and cannot be remedied overnight," said House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville.
The districts' attorney, Carl Epps, said legislators gave no timetable for a remedy.
"The report confirms what we already knew," he said. Legislators "received a lot of valuable information from highly qualified and knowledgeable people explicitly describing these children's plight ... but as is customary, they've only tinkered around the edges."
He noted a generation already has passed since rural districts initially sued in 1993.
"A 7-year-old second grader when we brought this suit is now 30," he said. "It seems members of the General Assembly would acknowledge enough time has passed to address these children's needs."
The justices will issue another order after reviewing the Legislature's efforts.
Spearman, who sat on the House study panel, said the work is just beginning, but legislators are making progress.
She applauds money designated in the budget for technology and transportation.
That includes $17 million for technology upgrades in plaintiff districts and an additional $19 million to help districts pay bus driver salaries. That will cover a $7.50 minimum wage statewide. Currently, the state covers just $4 of drivers' hourly pay, and the low wages offered by poor districts contribute to driver shortages and long ride times.
Spearman plans to ask for more for bus driver pay next year.
The budget also allows her agency to buy several hundred school buses, all with air-conditioning. Spearman said it's enough to comply with the state's 15-year-replacement-cycle law, which legislators passed in 2007, then ignored.
She also points to $1.5 million allocated for a statewide review of building needs.
That was supposed to be a precursor for borrowing up to $200 million annually to repair and replace deteriorating K-12 schools. But a bill to authorize the borrowing died in the Senate.
Spearman said she'll push again for that bill next year.
"We needed to have this year to get a good assessment done and help in planning," she said.
Scott Price, director of the School Boards Association, called the bill's defeat a missed opportunity to address a critical need recognized by the court.
He said the report shows a lot of work but no indication of a "greater roadmap."
"It's all well-intended, but I don't see an overall plan," he said.
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