SC Senate advances bill on teacher contracts called a ‘huge win’ for K-12 educators

COLUMBIA — Teachers are celebrating near-passage of a South Carolina bill advocates have been pushing for years as a major help in recruiting and retaining educators.

The bill, dubbed the “Educator Assistance Act,” received unanimous approval from senators Wednesday, marking the first time it’s gotten a vote in the chamber.

The legislation will not only significantly improve teachers’ lives but send the message that legislators respect teachers as professionals, supporters said.

“This is a huge win,” said Patrick Kelly, a high school teacher who lobbies for the Palmetto State Teachers Association. “I cannot overstate how big of a win this will be for teachers’ working conditions.”

If the House, which again approved the legislation earlier this year, agrees to the Senate’s changes, the bill will head to Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk.

Its main sponsor, Rep. Shannon Erickson — the Beaufort Republican who leads the House’s education committee — said she’s hopeful that’s what will happen.

The House passed a different version of the bill last session, and legislators have proposed parts of it to varying levels of success over the past several years. The Senate didn’t take up the bill last year mainly because of timing issues, not because senators didn’t support the idea, said Sen. Greg Hembree, chair of the Senate Education Committee.

“It’s good all-around for the teachers and the students,” said Hembree, R-Little River. “I’m glad we got it done.”

As teacher pay has risen in recent years, the number of teacher vacancies in the state has dropped, though it remains far above the number reported before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the state’s Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement. While pay is a major issue for teachers, hiring and keeping people in teaching jobs will require more than increasing minimum salaries, Kelly said.

In talking to teachers over the years, Kelly has heard three major complaints from teachers beyond compensation: more support, more planning time and more respect. Many districts have already implemented parts of the bill, but requiring it across the board will help teachers in districts without such policies, he said.

SC bill would require schools to excuse some extracurricular absences

A major piece of the bill is requiring school districts to include a teacher’s expected minimum salary in their contract. Because those contracts are due May 10, before legislators pass their final budget and school districts have decided how much to pay teachers, most educators sign on without knowing how much they’ll get paid.

“I can’t think of any other profession where signing a contract without knowing your salary would be acceptable,” Kelly said.

The bill would also not allow district officials to reassign a teacher to another school or subject during the school year with less than five school days of notice unless the superintendent can prove it’s for a good reason. That gives teachers peace of mind knowing they’ll be teaching the class for which they signed up, advocates have said.

Teachers would also get guaranteed planning time under the bill. Current law allows districts to give teachers up to two days of planning, but it’s not required, meaning many districts eat up that time with professional development meetings, advocates have said. The proposal would set aside two days free of meetings for teachers to plan.

That change may not seem like much, but it makes a world of difference for teachers preparing for a new year, Kelly said.

“That is critically important to making sure efficient instruction can happen on day one,” Kelly said.

When teachers do have to attend professional development trainings, the bill would allow them to count those hours toward the 120 continuing education credits they’re required to obtain every five years in order to renew their teaching certificates. Requiring both has created a process advocates have said is often redundant and time-consuming.

“To stop the merry-go-round of having to deal with your certification is a huge, huge step,” Erickson said.

The biggest change senators made to the bill would allow teachers to move to a different part of the state without breaking their contract.

Currently, teachers who move after signing their contract can lose their ability to teach for up to a year. That meant teachers who needed to move for personal reasons, such as a spouse taking a job in a different part of the state, had to choose between finding a way to stay or being unable to teach that school year, teachers’ advocates have said.

One part of the bill that stood out to Hembree would allow teachers to donate their unused sick days to other colleagues. When he was solicitor in Horry and Georgetown counties, his office used a similar program. When two of his employees were diagnosed with cancer, they found the extra sick days invaluable, he said.

“That’s not going to come up a lot, but boy, when it does, it can make a difference in someone’s life,” Hembree said.

Teachers’ advocates said the bill is a major step forward, but they want to see more in future years.

Changing policies means little without good leadership, Kelly said. He encouraged legislators to continue finding ways to recruit and train principals and superintendents who can support the teachers in their schools.

Sherry East, president of the South Carolina Education Association, said she’d like to see longer windows for teachers to break their contracts and move to a different district, since job openings are often not posted until after the signing deadline, she said.

“We like it,” East said of the bill. “It could’ve gone a little further, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”