(The Center Square) — A South Carolina task force has made a series of recommendations for recruiting and retaining teachers in the state.
Among the 23 recommendations is that lawmakers set the minimum teacher starting salary to at least $50,000 annually by fiscal 2026. Gov Henry McMaster, a Republican, has expressed his support for such a salary increase.
A proviso in the 2022-23 Appropriations Act created the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force.
“In South Carolina, teachers should be respected and celebrated for the positive, life-changing difference they can and do make every day in the lives of their students,” the task force wrote in the report. “Teaching should be elevated, both through policy and through rhetoric, as a profession that is essential to the future economic success of the state as well as the continued health of our communities.
“The work of changing the narrative of what it means to be a teacher in this state starts with the words and actions of government, community, business, parent, and student leaders, and continues with the words and actions of district and school leaders, but it ultimately requires the engagement of every South Carolinian to firmly establish the teaching profession as one worthy of pursuing as a lifelong career,” the task force added.
Officials said the task force’s recommendations fit into four broad categories: educator preparation, recruitment, working conditions and compensation and evaluation. South Carolina Department of Education officials said they plan to start implementing recommendations that do not require legislative action.
“This important report speaks powerfully to key themes I’ve heard from educators across the state,” State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver said in a news release. “We must pursue clarity of vision and alignment of resources to reimagine how we recruit, prepare, and support new educators; equip and grow our teachers as classroom leaders and our principals as school culture builders; and ensure that when it comes to student discipline, our educators know that we have their back.”
Additional recommendations range from launching a public relations campaign to simplifying the process for out-of-state educators to secure a reciprocal credential to ensuring “accountability for student behavior and family engagement.”
“The deliberate and comprehensive way the task force approached its work created a product representative of so many perspectives and voices,” former State Superintendent of Education Barbara Nielsen, who headed up the task force, said in a news release.
