Members of the House Education and Public Works Committee heard a joint briefing on K–12 policy and spending priorities from the Education Oversight Committee and the South Carolina Department of Education.

Dana Yao, executive director of the Education Oversight Committee, told the panel the EOC issues the state’s K–12 school report cards, evaluates state-funded education programs and maintains an online data dashboard at dashboardsc.sc.gov. “The studies that we have done, the evaluations that we've done show that that program does work for 4 year olds,” Yao said of the state’s full‑day 4K evaluations.

The State Department of Education outlined a multi-year strategic plan Philip Cease, the department’s director of governmental affairs, called “one‑four‑one‑four” that includes a moonshot goal to raise the share of students at or above grade level. “The mission of South Carolina Department of Education is to serve students, support teachers, empower parents, engage the community so that every student graduates prepared to reach their full potential,” Cease said.

Why it matters: Committee members pressed officials on several measures that link classroom instruction to workforce and postsecondary readiness — from early literacy programs to new math supports — and on how the department will handle near-term implementation challenges and demand for summer and remediation programs.

Key details

- Accountability and data: Yao reminded members that report cards and school ratings are issued annually (by Oct. 15 under EOC practice), and she highlighted the EOC’s K–12 and pre‑K dashboards as tools for local drill‑downs of spending, performance and chronic absenteeism.

- Literacy and retention: The department said the legislature underwrote statewide training in the science of reading through LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling). Cease said the department expects LETRS training for all K–3 teachers by the 2025–26 school year and that Read to Succeed 2 raises retention thresholds. Cease noted that, had the statute been in effect last year, “16238 third graders would have been eligible for attention.” Committee members and staff discussed summer reading camps and other strategies to reduce retention while raising proficiency.

- Math and Palmetto Math Project: The State Department described a pilot expansion called the Palmetto Math Project that targets underperforming schools with additional resources and supports; a budget request for math instructional materials was scheduled for the legislature’s budget hearing the following morning.

- Chronic absenteeism and outreach: Yao flagged chronic absenteeism as a growing concern in many districts and said the EOC is completing parent focus groups and public‑awareness work on attendance. She noted that students reported attitudes such as “I don't need to go if I can just make it up online,” and committee members asked for parent feedback results when available.

- Rural recruitment incentives: The EOC has evaluated a menu of roughly 15 incentives funded with EIA (Education Improvement Act) money — about $7.6 million — ranging from housing assistance to mentoring programs; the EOC said it will assess return on investment and repeat the evaluation in 2026.

- Cell‑phone policy ("Free to Focus"): Cease described a proviso in the appropriations bill that required the State Board of Education to adopt a model policy and asked local boards to adopt a local policy (or risk losing classroom state aid). The model defines device “access” broadly, applies during the full school day (bell to bell), requires local districts to set consequences and permits exceptions for health or safety reasons.

- Budget priorities: The department presented a multiyear budget request including proposals to raise starting teacher pay (a requested recurring $200 million to move starting pay to $50,000), funding for high‑quality instructional materials ($20 million recurring and $95 million nonrecurring requested for math materials), targeted CTE and rural support, and a requested $100 million recurring rural infrastructure bank for school facilities.

Committee exchange and outstanding questions

Members pressed officials on the gap between on‑time graduation rates and post‑graduation readiness. Yao gave a recent on‑time graduation rate of 85.4 percent and described college‑ and career‑readiness measures (ACT/SAT thresholds, dual credit, CTE completer status and industry certifications). Representative Bradley expressed concern that a much smaller share of graduates leave high school with credentials valued by employers or postsecondary institutions and asked for follow‑up with the K–12 subcommittee. Representative Tippel and others asked for additional detail on rural teacher turnover rates and for the EOC to produce the parent‑focus results on absenteeism.

No formal votes or policy changes were taken at the meeting; staff said slides and reports would be shared with committee members.

Sources and next steps: Committee members were shown the EOC dashboard (dashboardsc.sc.gov), described upcoming data releases and were offered future briefings on chronic absenteeism and the Palmetto Math Project.