$500M for colleges, a bigger share for traditional public schools: How SC budget funds education

COLUMBIA — South Carolina’s traditional K-12 public schools will receive a bigger share of new money in the coming school year under a compromise approved this week.

An adjustment in calculations ultimately shifted nearly $10 million of a $112 million sum from charter schools to traditional public schools, according to data provided by the state Department of Education. That’s part of roughly $4.5 billion total the budget sends to K-12 public schools.

Also included in the $14.7 billion spending plan advanced Wednesday is more than $500 million to fund projects at the state’s public colleges, plus a continued guarantee that tuition rates will remain frozen for in-state students.

Parts of the budget were locked in when legislators started negotiations. That includes a $1,500 increase in teachers’ minimum pay, which will bring the floor for first-year teachers to $48,500. With an unexpected $1 billion increase in revenue coming as legislators started publicly negotiating, much of the disagreement between the chambers’ proposed budgets then came down to directives on how to spend the money.

Legislators are scheduled to return for a final vote approving the budget Wednesday.

Virtual charter school funding

Both chambers’ plans put an additional $112 million into “state aid to classrooms,” which is primarily meant for teacher raises. So, that statewide total was set ahead of negotiations. Where the plans differed was in the funding formula for virtual charter schools. The House plan lowered the normal weighting for students in online classrooms.

Traditional public schools, brick-and-mortar charter schools and virtual charter schools are all funded differently, with calculations involving student populations.

Unlike traditional public schools, charter schools organized under a statewide school district don’t receive local property taxes. So, state funding formulas provide them a higher proportion of state aid per student to help make up for that. Virtual charter schools receive a lesser share than other charter schools.

That is nothing new. But a combination of a growth in charter schools, shrinking population in some traditional schools, and a smaller hike in state aid being put through the complicated calculations meant traditional schools were slated to get less than they expected.

Last year, the Legislature provided an additional $200 million in “state aid to classrooms” to boost minimum salaries by $2,500. Charter schools received 24% of that money.

If the formulas had stayed the same, charter schools would’ve received more than 45% of the additional $112 million in the coming school year, according to numbers provided by the House Ways and Means Committee. Yet, the schools governed autonomously — while growing in population — are still expected to enroll just 7.5% of South Carolina’s 770,000 K-12 public school students.

Advocates for the state’s 72 traditional school districts worried the lopsided distribution could only get worse in the future.

“If it keeps going the way it’s going, it’s going to be very difficult to address this thing unless we do it now,” said Debbie Elmore, a lobbyist for the state School Boards Association.

SC legislators advance $14.7B spending plan that includes pay raise for themselves

The issue became contentious enough that legislators stepped into a back room to continue deliberating after reaching a consensus on the rest of the budget Wednesday. Ultimately, the chambers compromised on a funding weight that split the difference between their spending plans.

Split among 72 school districts, all of which receive a different amount of the funding under calculations that also involve their tax base — what’s called the “index of taxpaying ability” — that $10 million won’t make a huge difference. But it will make a difference, Elmore said.

Charter schools said they needed the extra money to support a growing number of students enrolled in their programs.

“While this recent funding decision is disappointing, South Carolina’s Legislature has historically upheld the principle that families deserve the right to choose the educational option that best serves their children,” the Charter Institute at Erskine, the authorizer for 26 charter schools statewide, said in a statement. “That principle — and the rapidly growing demand for school choice — must continue to drive the educational funding decisions made in our state.”

House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister said it was a shame that instead of getting together to figure out the best way to distribute new money for students, groups on either side of the issue attacked each other using faulty numbers.

“I’m frustrated by the whole prospect that while we’re trying to take care of students there are groups out there that are misleading the people who care about their kids and funding in their schools,” the Greenville Republican said.

The change in funding weights is meant to be a one-year fix, Bannister said.

Also included in the budget is a directive for the state’s Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office to take a closer look at the funding formula and find a way to distribute state money that helps traditional and charter schools proportionally.

“Education funding conversations are complex and must support thoughtful decision-making with accurate information,” state Superintendent Ellen Weaver said in a statement. “I’m grateful for the General Assembly’s strong focus on K-12 education in this budget and appreciate them providing a pathway for the deliberative, fact-driven study of funding allocations that our students deserve.”

“We must never lose sight of our shared commitment: ensuring the opportunity of an exceptional education for every South Carolina child, wherever they learn,” Weaver continued.

Higher education

Also at question when legislators sat down to hash out differences in the chambers’ plans was whether to continue a requirement that all public colleges freeze tuition for in-state students for a seventh year.

College presidents said freezing tuition long-term wasn’t sustainable, so the House proposed allowing universities to raise costs for incoming freshmen, so long as their tuition remained the same for each class through graduation.

Gov. Henry McMaster’s office said the governor was opposed to any increase. Facing the potential of a veto, representatives agreed with the Senate’s plan to keep tuition rates as they are but allow colleges to raise other fees, including the price of athletics.

SC colleges have frozen tuition for several years. University presidents say that’s not sustainable.

Included in the budget deal was $65 million to offset costs for colleges to maintain tuition for South Carolina residents. That’s a fraction of the $130 million schools said they would need to fully cover the costs.

The state’s colleges are also set to collectively receive more than $500 million to renovate existing buildings, build new facilities and establish new programs.

The University of South Carolina had the biggest single project, with $150 million to build a specialized hospital for neurological diseases in Columbia. The hospital, which is expected to cost $350 million overall, will have 80 beds for critical care and 32 beds for rehabilitation, according to an agency budget request.

This was “truly a banner year” for funding at USC, university spokesman Jeff Stensland said.

Clemson University is slated to receive $40 million to build a NextGen Computing Complex, a facility to expand the university’s electrical and computing engineering programs. The Medical University of South Carolina is set to get $25 million for a new seven-story building in Charleston to house its College of Medicine.

“We thank Senate and House leadership and the entire General Assembly for their continued investment in Clemson and higher education in South Carolina,” Clemson spokesman Joe Galbraith said in a statement. “Their support helps our continued commitment to access and affordability to a world-class education for every South Carolina citizen.”

Other projects slated to receive more than $10 million include:

• $16 million to Greenville Technical College to build a Center for Industrial Cyber Security and AI,
• $16 million to Midlands Technical College for an advanced trades center,
• $15 million to South Carolina State University to renovate a historic building to house its College of Agriculture, Family and Consumer Sciences,
• $15 million to Central Carolina Technical College for a technical high school workforce center,
• $13.2 million to USC’s Columbia campus for the Carolina Institute for Battery Innovation to research batteries.