Philip Cease, director of governmental affairs for the South Carolina Department of Education, briefed the House Education and Public Works subcommittee on the department''s strategic plan, instructional initiatives and the agency''s budget request.

Cease described the department''s moonshot goal: by 2030 raise the share of students at or above grade level to at least 75 percent. He said that goal is supported by four three-year objectives and one-year milestones the department calls the "one-four-one-four" strategic framework.

On literacy, Cease summarized the Science of Reading initiative and the LETRS professional learning rollout. He said the legislature funded nearly $40 million for K-3 LETRS training and that, by the end of the 2025-26 school year, the department expects every K-3 teacher to have completed LETRS. He noted about 20,000 teachers were either in the pipeline or had completed the training and that a stipend is provided upon completion.

Cease described the Palmetto Math Project as a replication of the literacy pilot approach: identify underperforming schools, provide intensive supports and measure results. He said a pilot funded in the current budget year is underway and the department will seek funding to expand high-quality math instructional materials.

On accountability, Cease referenced Read to Succeed 2 and its retention provisions. He told the committee the department estimated 16,238 third-graders would have been eligible for retention under the updated statute if it had applied the previous year; he said summer reading camps and expanded literacy supports are part of the department''s response.

Cease reviewed the statewide cell phone model policy (a proviso in the appropriations bill), branded by the department as "Free to Focus." The policy requires local school boards to adopt a model that defines a school day as the bell-to-bell school day and requires local districts to set consequences and permitted exceptions. Cease said local districts chose different storage options (backpacks, pouches, lockers) and that medical or safety exceptions are allowed.

On the department''s budget request, Cease outlined three categories: student success, teacher supports and safe schools. Key requests he cited included an ask to raise starting teacher pay to $50,000 (roughly $200 million), $20 million recurring for high-quality instructional materials and $95 million nonrecurring for math materials, funds for summer reading camps, $13 million for a CTE Rural Renaissance program, and recurring resources for school safety and a rural infrastructure bank for facilities.

Committee members asked about use of artificial intelligence for tutoring, the effect of the cell phone policy on teachers and parents, and whether the cell phone proviso has a sunset date. Cease said some districts had innovation grants for AI tutoring pilots, that anecdotal feedback on the cell phone policy included both teacher and parent concerns but also reports of improved classroom focus, and that the proviso will reappear before the legislature (it has no automatic sunset but the department asked legislators to let it run for a year to collect data).

Cease closed by encouraging members to use the department''s online resources (ed.sc.gov/literacy) and said the department would provide the committee with materials and the text of the proviso.

Next steps identified in the hearing included requests for additional information on district AI pilots, copies of the cell phone proviso and evaluation data from the Palmetto Math pilot and LETRS implementation.