Copyright Live 5 News WCSC
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - South Carolina’s top educator kicked off her bid for a second term on Monday morning. Ellen Weaver, who took office in 2023, launched her campaign by citing a “strong record of promises kept and a clear mission to continue delivering ‘Hope in Action’ for students, parents and teachers.” “South Carolina education is on the rise thanks to promises kept,” Weaver said. “We are not done. With faith in our students, support for our teachers, and trust in our parents, we can build the most hopeful, high-performing education system in America—one that changes lives for generations to come.” Weaver, a Republican, released four points she plans to focus on in her next term. First, she wants to advance the Palmetto Math Project, which she says includes high-quality professional development, curriculum, math coaches and tutoring to unleash every child’s inner “math kid.” She also wants to expand career pathways and apprenticeships, strengthen civics and character education and increase transparency for parents, teachers and taxpayers. Her campaign touted conservative education reforms, including the largest teacher pay increase in state history, major investments in school safety, nation-leading phone-free classroom policies and training more than 20,000 teachers in the Science of Reading, which it says fueled South Carolina’s “significant literacy gains even while national scores declined.” A release cites starting salaries for teachers rose 20% since 2023 and is on track to reach $50,000 by 2026. It also states that reading and math scores, school safety and paid parental leave for teachers are up while red tape, cell phones in the classroom, “explicit content” in curriculum and school libraries and federal overreach are down.
