Report on Public Education Advocacy Issues to the LWVSC Board, October 6, 2025

By Janelle Rivers, Ph.D., Volunteer Education Advocacy Specialist, League of Women Voters of South Carolina

Over the past three decades, stagnant weekly wages of public school teachers have fallen further and further behind those of college graduates who chose other careers, resulting in an ever increasing teacher pay gap that hit a record high in 2024. Censorship complaints to public libraries continue with state-wide impact. The status of pseudo-vouchers (Education Scholarship Accounts) remains uncertain. 

Public schools remain under attack from various groups, often funded by dark money, whose ultimate goal is a privatized education system. Charter schools, although they are part of the public school system, do not have adequate accountability requirements, and private schools have very few accountability requirements.

Teacher Salaries

Over the past three decades, stagnant weekly wages of public school teachers have fallen further and further behind those of college graduates who chose other careers, resulting in an ever increasing teacher pay gap that hit a record high in 2024.

In September, the Center for Economic Policy released The Teacher Pay Penalty Reached a Record High in 2024, a study by Sylvia Allegretto analyzing data for teacher salaries in the United States over the period between 1979 and 2024. 

Here are some of the key findings:

• Over the last decade, inflation-adjusted weekly wages for teachers declined by $46.39 but increased by $220.46 for other college graduates.
• The regression-adjusted relative gap between the weekly wages of teachers and college graduates working in other professions grew to a record 26.9% in 2024, a significant increase from 6.1% in 1996.
• On average, teachers earned 73.1 cents for every dollar relative to the earnings of other similar professionals in 2024—much less than the 93.9 cents earned in 1996.
• Although teachers typically receive better benefits packages than other professionals, this “benefits advantage” is not sufficiently large to offset the growing wage penalty that teachers face. In 2024, the teacher total compensation gap was -17.1%.

The data from this study underscore one important reason for the nationwide shortage of qualified teachers. The weekly difference (penalty) for teachers between 2019 and 2024 when compared with similarly educated professionals was greater than 15% in 20 states. 

In South Carolina:

• Recent increases for South Carolina’s public school teachers mitigated the outcome for teachers in this state. Teachers in South Carolina reported salaries that were only 14.1% below the salaries for similarly educated professionals. 
• Beginning teachers in South Carolina will make at least $45,500 in the 2025-26 academic year. 
• The minimum salary for classroom teachers who reach the highest bracket on the state pay scale, requiring a doctorate and at least 28 years of experience, will be $78,500, although districts can pay more than that. 

For more details, see Budge⁠t⁠ Breakdown: Wha⁠t⁠’s New for K-12 ⁠i⁠n Sou⁠t⁠h Carol⁠i⁠na.

Censorship in Libraries

Censorship complaints to public libraries continue, with much of the summer activity occurring in Beaufort County, Pickens County, Anderson County, York County, and Lancaster County. 

On Oct. 7, South Carolina public school librarians and students filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to block enforcement of the state’s unconstitutional book banning regulation and a classroom censorship memo issued by the state education superintendent. 

So far, the State Board has acted on 27 complaints. When a book is removed by the State Board of Education, it must be removed from all public school libraries in the state. Below is a summary of their decisions: 

4 books retained

• 1984 Orwell, George  
• Bronx Masquerade by Grimes, Nikki 
• Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee, Harper

1 book retained, but only available to students with parental consent

Crank by Hopkins, Ellen

22 books removed  

• A Court of Frost and Starlight by Maas, Sarah 
• A Court of Mist and Fury by Maas, Sarah J. 
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Maas, Sarah J.
• A Court of Wings and Ruin by Maas, Sarah J.
• All Boys Aren't Blue by Johnson, George M. 
• Flamer by Curato, Mike 
• Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Hopeless by Hoover, Colleen 
• House on Mango by Street by Cisneros, Sandra 
• Kingdom of Ash by Maas, Sarah J.
• Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Lo, Malinda 
• Living Dead Girl by Scott, Elizabeth 
• Lucky by Sebold, Alice 
• Normal People by Rooney, Sally 
• Perks of Being a Wallflower by Chbosky, Stephen 
• Push by Sapphire 
• Tricks by Hopkins, Ellen 
• Identical by Hopkins, Ellen 
• Ugly Love by Hoover, Colleen 
• Collateral by Hopkins, Ellen 
• Damsel by Arnold, Elana 
• Empire of Storms by Maas, Sarah J. 

Vouchers

The ultimate status of Education Scholarship Accounts (pseudo-vouchers that attempt to circumvent the state’s prohibition against distributing state funds directly to private or religious schools) remains unknown. A legal challenge to the revised state statute is likely, but has not been filed as of this date.