Philip Cease, director of governmental affairs for the South Carolina Department of Education, told the House Education and Public Works Committee the department is pursuing a strategic plan it calls ‘‘one‑four‑one‑four,’’ which sets a ‘‘moonshot’’ goal and timebound objectives to raise student performance.

Cease said the department’s moonshot is a statewide goal that ‘‘by 2030 at least 75 percent of students [will be] at or above grade level.’’ He described four three‑year objectives that feed into that goal and a set of 90‑day operational priorities.

Central to the department’s plans is an expansion of Science of Reading instruction. Cease said the legislature funded approximately $40,000,000 for LETRS professional learning for K‑3 teachers; the department expects every K‑3 teacher to have been through LETRS by the end of the 2025‑26 school year. He described Palmetto Math Project as a statewide expansion of a pilot intended to replicate the literacy initiative’s gains in mathematics.

Cease outlined the department’s budget request for the 2025 session. Top‑line proposals he cited include a $200,000,000 recurring request to raise starting teacher salaries to $50,000; $20,000,000 recurring and $95,000,000 nonrecurring for high‑quality instructional materials (noted as a priority for math); $13,000,000 for a CTE Rural Renaissance initiative; and $100,000,000 recurring proposed for a rural infrastructure bank to help rural districts and charter schools with construction and renovations. He said most recent state investments since 2018–19 total about $1.6 billion and that teacher pay increases since 2018–19 have been about 47%.

Read to Succeed 2 and summer supports: Cease said Read to Succeed 2 increases retention thresholds and that, under the statute as written, 16,238 third graders would have been ‘‘eligible for retention’’ last year; the department’s budget request includes funding for expanded summer reading camps aimed at helping retained students and other early readers reach grade level.

Cell phone policy model (‘‘Free to Focus’’): Cease summarized a proviso passed in the appropriations bill that required the State Board of Education to adopt a statewide model cell‑phone policy and for local school boards to adopt a version or risk losing classroom state aid. He described key elements of the model policy presented to districts: access is defined to include viewing, holding or wearing a device; ‘‘school day’’ was defined bell‑to‑bell rather than only instructional time; consequences must be defined locally but exceptions (for medical devices, 504/IEP accommodations, volunteer first responders) are allowed. The Department has published resources and a handbook on a website accompanying the policy.

Cease also briefed the committee on strategy areas he termed ‘‘student success,’’ ‘‘teacher supports,’’ and ‘‘safe schools,’’ and said the department continues to expand educator supports such as retention bonuses, summer camps and strategic compensation pilots.

Ending: Cease invited committee members to consult posted resources (including materials on ed.sc.gov/literacy) and noted the department will present the budget request to the legislature; members asked for follow‑up on district implementation of the cell‑phone model policy and for contacts about districts piloting AI tutoring programs.