Accountability strengthens public school choice in South Carolina

For 30 years, the South Carolina Charter Schools Act has stood as one of our state’s most consequential public education reforms.

Public charter schools are public, tuition-free schools that give families additional options and educators room to create distinctive programs within a framework of public accountability. Generations of South Carolina students have benefited from those opportunities.

At Erskine, I see education from an unusual vantage point: as president of a college and as chairman of the board of a statewide public charter school authorizer.

Schools authorized by the Charter Institute at Erskine now enroll nearly 40,000 K–12 students. That experience has shown me that the right educational setting can expand a young person’s possibilities — and that choice and accountability must advance together.

To protect those opportunities and strengthen public confidence, the General Assembly enacted Act 123 of 2026 following years of work across multiple legislative sessions. The law clarifies expectations for schools and authorizers, strengthens oversight and transparency, and creates a firmer foundation for responsible growth.

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Authorizing is not a ceremonial role. An authorizer functions as a Local Education Agency and carries serious responsibilities involving academics, finance, governance, special education, and regulatory compliance.

Act 123 therefore requires future higher-education authorizers to undergo a new state application process. The Department of Education will evaluate each application and make a recommendation; the State Board of Education makes the final decision.

Existing authorizers must sign formal assurances and remain subject to annual state review and expanded transparency requirements. That is a sound principle: new authorizers should demonstrate their capacity, and established authorizers should continue earning the public’s confidence.

Act 123 also strengthens the process through which a charter school may transfer from one authorizer to another. Changing authorizers can no longer be used to escape, delay, or reduce accountability. The law preserves a pathway for warranted transfers while ensuring that accountability follows the school.

Good schools also depend on good governance.

New charter school and authorizer board members must complete orientation covering school finance, instructional programs, school law, state ethics requirements, the Freedom of Information Act, and other public responsibilities. After their first year, charter school board members must participate in annual training provided by their authorizer. These requirements give board members stronger tools to carry out the public trust placed in them.

Act 123’s financial transparency provisions will make budgets, audits, transaction registers, and certain contracts easier for the public to review.

We welcome that scrutiny. It will allow South Carolinians to see both how charter schools use public funds and how effectively they stretch the resources entrusted to them.

Because charter schools operate without the same access to local and facilities funding available to traditional districts, doing more with less is part of their daily work. Greater transparency should make that stewardship easier to recognize.

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That context does not lessen expectations.

Charter schools must be held accountable for academic quality, fiscal integrity, lawful governance, and responsible stewardship. Accountability, oversight, and transparency are not adversaries of public-school choice; they are essential to sustaining public confidence in it.

Legislation of this complexity is strengthened when ideas are tested, debated, and refined.

I am grateful to the members of the House and Senate, their committee leaders and staff, and the educators, authorizers, school leaders, and families who remained engaged throughout the process.

The final measure earned overwhelming support in both chambers. That broad support — and the hard work required to achieve it — deserves recognition.

Act 123 provides a stronger foundation for public charter education in South Carolina.

Our responsibility now is to implement it faithfully and ensure that the public-school choices available to families remain accountable, sustainable, and worthy of their trust.