Education
Midlands Tech expands education for high-demand jobs with new Lexington campus
LEXINGTON — People in the South Carolina Midlands who want jobs in high-demand fields, such as heavy equipment operators or aides in a doctor’s office, could soon get the necessary training closer to home or work. Starting in January, Midlands Technical College will offer classes out of a former middle school as part of a […]
Sign-ups for K-12 vouchers to start in January unless SC high court intervenes
COLUMBIA — South Carolina parents can start applying for $6,000 in taxpayer-paid scholarships toward private K-12 tuition, tutoring and other school expenses in January, unless the state Supreme Court decides to block them. The voucher sign-up process must open to parents no later than Jan. 30. Applications may be taken as early as Jan. 15, […]
Proposal replaces SC High School League with legislators’ own governing board
COLUMBIA — After studying for months how to level the high school playing field, a House GOP leader believes the answer is to ditch the South Carolina High School League and create a new board to govern student athletics. Calls to change the classifications of high school sports teams have ramped up for years following […]
Scholarship program that enables debt-free college expands to SC’s poorest county
ALLENDALE — High school students in South Carolina’s poorest county will be able to go to college for free thanks to a privately funded scholarship program expanding across the state, its director announced Thursday in a gym filled with students and parents. The Meeting Street Scholarship Fund, started by Sherman Financial founder Ben Navarro of […]
Winthrop wins grant from Charles Schwab to train financial planners
ROCK HILL — As many as 40 Winthrop University business students could receive scholarships to become financial planners with a grant from investment giant Charles Schwab. The Charles Schwab Foundation would not disclose how much it gave but Winthrop administrators called the gift significant. The donation announced this month will fund scholarships and help with […]
Will pension incentive help fill bus driver shortage? Legislators want to try.
COLUMBIA – School districts across South Carolina are scrambling to find enough people to drive buses. They have raised pay — some above $20 per hour — covered the cost of training and offered bonuses, but it’s still a struggle. To help, a bi-partisan trio of legislators propose freeing up an additional source of workers […]
As school vacancies exceed 1,600, proposal requires SC legislators to substitute teach
COLUMBIA — As South Carolina schools continue to grapple with teacher shortages, one legislator is calling for fellow lawmakers to spend more time inside schools. Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Hopkins, said he will introduce a bill next month that would require legislators to substitute teach or volunteer at K-12 schools at least five times a year […]
Cursive makes a comeback — by law — in public schools
In 2016, California Democratic state Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva sat with then-California Gov. Jerry Brown at an event where he signed baseball-type cards featuring the image of his dog, Colusa. But many of the recipients of the cards couldn’t read his cursive signature, Quirk-Silva recalled, much to the Democratic governor’s dismay. “The governor asked me what […]
Clemson, USC ask lawmakers for $1B, including for vet and medical schools
COLUMBIA – Clemson University is seeking an additional $175 million from the Legislature for the state’s first veterinary school, while the University of South Carolina wants $50 million more for a new medical campus, according to the colleges’ budget requests to lawmakers. In all, South Carolina’s two largest university systems – and biggest rivals – […]
$15M effort to train SC students on supercomputers starts at USC
COLUMBIA – A state-funded initiative to train South Carolina college students on a quantum supercomputer for future high-tech, high-paying jobs kicks into gear in January. The newly formed South Carolina Quantum Association will start pairing students and professors with companies seeking industry advancements that only a quantum computer can provide, according to the group’s organizer, […]
USC expanding civil rights research hub on former campus of historic Black school
COLUMBIA — With restoration of what remains of Columbia’s first Black public high school fully funded, the director of the University of South Carolina’s civil rights center is turning his attention to expansion. The estimated $24 million project involves new construction on the historic Booker T. Washington High School property. The stories and contributions of […]
USC’s Anne Frank Center addressing antisemitism in shadow of Israel-Hamas war
COLUMBIA – Jewish students and faculty at the University of South Carolina recently gathered by candlelight in the garden of the Anne Frank Center, the only North American partner of the house in Amsterdam where its namesake hid from Nazis eight decades ago. To the dozens who attended, it was a safe space to grieve […]