b'Wins, Struggles, and Challenges in South Carolinas Education System By Sherry EastOverthepastyear,wehaveseenmanyhot-buttonclasssizes,supportwithdisciplineissues,protected education issues in South Carolina. While there haveplanning time, better contracts, and less focus on high been some legislative wins, there have also been a lotstakestesting.Whenpolicymakersrepeatedlyignore ofveryharmfulpoliciesandbigchallengesfacingthese concerns, it pushes teachers out of the classroom.South Carolinas education system.To read the full report go to https://www.cerra.org/CHALLENGES: THE TEACHERsupply-and-demand.html.SHORTAGE AccordingtotheCenterforRecruitmentandCHALLENGES: VOUCHER BILLSRetentionAssociation(CERRA),SouthCarolinaDuringarecord-shatteringteachershortage,the legislaturehasspent much of its time debating voucherschemesthat funnelpublictaxdollars intoprivateandreligious schools.94%ofchildren inSouthCarolinaattend publicschoolsandthe stateconstitutionoutlaws sendingpublicdollars toprivateorreligious schools.Despitethese facts,thelegislaturehas discussed multiple voucher schemesthissession. TheseincludeH.3591, whichwouldchange thestateconstitution toallowpublicdollars togotoprivateschools; S.39,whichestablishes educationscholarship truststofunnelpublic moneyintoprivate schools;andS.285,which startedthe2022-2023schoolyearwithover1,400allowstaxpayerstodivertwould-betaxdollarsinto vacantteachingpositions,includinganother800private-school scholarships. departures from August to February.The top reasons why teachers are leaving the profession and why youngTheSouthCarolinaEducationAssociation peopledonotwanttobecometeachersarepayandopposesallvoucherschemes.Joinusinthefightat workingconditions. Teachershaveaskedforsmallerwww.thescea.org/S39. 8IMARA'