07-02-2025
New bill aims to improve teacher contracts in South Carolina
GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) – If you've ever been asked to sign a work contract without knowing how much you'll get paid and where you'll be working, that can be considered as a huge, red flag.
Thousands of teachers across South Carolina have been doing that for decades.
'The contract lacks details that you would find in almost any other profession,' said Patrick Kelly, the Governmental Affairs Director with the Palmetto State Teacher's Association. 'It lacks the school location where you're going to be assigned. It doesn't have the course or grade level that you will be asked to teach, and most importantly, it doesn't have a salary figure attached to it.'
Teachers have complained for years, and nothing has changed with previous state bills aimed at addressing the problems, failing to break through bureaucratic barriers every time.
'Most people that see a teacher contract from South Carolina say, 'I wouldn't sign it', but we have to,' said Sherry East, the President of the South Carolina Education Association. 'We don't have a choice. You either sign it or not.'
Now, there's a new bill that on the horizon that teachers, advocates, and parents hope can rise above the rest that have failed to become law: the Educator Assistance Act.
'A similar, prior version of this bill passed the House of Representatives unanimously four times in the prior General Assembly. It just never got a hearing in the Senate,' said Kelly.
The EAA passed the House Education and Public Works committee unanimously on Thursday. It's now heading to the hands of state senators.
'It's just a good, it's like [lawmakers] listened to what the things that are bothering teachers and what would help us,' said East.
The EAA will make teacher contracts more transparent, create a leave bank teachers can donate to and pull from, and also address a common concern by teachers: license renewals.
'Right now, teachers have to go through an extensive renewal period every five years, and it's out of your own pocket. You have to pay for your 120 credit hours, or two graduate classes is basically what it comes down to. So this would eliminate that,' said East.
Each school district already has some form of continuing education classes it offers to teachers. However as it stands currently, the time teachers spend on those courses don't count towards the 120 hours of professional development the South Carolina Department of Education requires for license renewal.
Both East and Kelly explained that the bill wouldn't eliminate professional development requirements, but rather automate how the state tracks it. It would allow teachers to count district-provided, professional development courses towards the renewal requirements.
East also expressed optimism about how the bill defines a 'breach of contract.'
'It gives teachers a little bit more leeway in getting it out of your contract, or how long your breach of contract is,' said East. 'Currently, it could take up to a year for the State Board of Education to hear your case, and then you could get your license suspended for the next year. So potentially, a teacher has sat out the classroom for two years, sometimes over a breach of contract.'
The EAA also requires school districts to inform teachers of their school assignments within 14 days of the school year, something East said could leave to another 'big mess' if not implemented.
'In one of the counties here in the Midlands, they transferred [new] teachers at 45 days in. They've transferred 10 teachers from their classrooms at the 45 day mark, and so they took Kindergarten teachers and put them in Third Grade or Second Grade at a school across town mid-year,' said East. 'People flipped out. The teachers flipped out. The parents flipped out. The children were stressed out. It just wasn't a good situation.'
East admitted she had been told to switch from teaching Biology during the Fall, to Chemistry coming back from Winter break several years ago which prompted her to voluntarily switch districts at the end of the school year.
'I was like, 'What?'' said East. 'I get no notice and I had to spend my Christmas break learning how to teach chemistry. I mean, I'm certified, but I'd never taught it before.'
Ultimately both East and Kelly expressed optimism that the bill leads to higher teacher retention rates.
'We have never seen teachers leave mid year like we had probably two years ago, and it was after the pandemic, and it was just teachers said, 'It's enough, it's too much. I can't deal with it.' So they were leaving in, you know, February. They were leaving in November,' said East.
'Issues of working conditions are of primary importance to enhancing educator retention,' said Kelly. 'This bill is just a common sense pathway to doing the things that are necessary to improve working conditions.'
The bill would take effect July 1, 2025, if passed this Spring.
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