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Bill > H3196


SC H3196

SC H3196
Educator Assistance Act


summary

Introduced
01/14/2025
In Committee
02/13/2025
Crossed Over
02/13/2025
Passed
04/30/2025
Dead
Signed/Enacted/Adopted
05/12/2025

Introduced Session

126th General Assembly

Bill Summary

Amend The South Carolina Code Of Laws By Enacting The "educator Assistance Act" By Adding Section 59-101-145 So As To Authorize The Use Of Data Being Collected Under Current Procedures To Report On Certain Postsecondary Matters Concerning Graduates Of South Carolina Public Schools, And To Require The Streamlining Of Data Collection Timelines And Processes; By Amending Section 59-25-47, Relating To Policies Authorizing Payments For Unused Teacher Leave, So As To Require Additional Policies That Allow Teachers To Donate Such Unused Leave To A Leave Bank For Other Employees, And To Provide Requirements For The Policies; By Amending Section 59-25-410, Relating To Annual Notification Of School Teacher Employment And Assignments, So As To Provide The Notification Must Include Certain Salary Information Requirements In The Required Notice, To Provide Notice Of Tentative Teacher Assignments Must Be Provided No Later Than Fourteen Calendar Days Before The Start Of The School Year, And To Prohibit Limitations On Teacher Reassignments; By Amending Section 59-1-425, Relating To Required Days For Collegial Professional Development In The Annual School Calendar, So As To Increase The Number Of Days To Four, To Provide Districts Must Verify Completing Of The Required Collegial Professional Development In A Certain Manner, To Provide Teachers And Instructional Assistants Must Be Provided Self-directed Free Time To Evaluate Student Academic Data, Instructional Planning, And Classroom Preparation, And To Remove A Two-day Maximum Limitation On Use Of These Collegial Professional Development Days For The Preparation And Opening Of Schools; By Amending Section 59-25-160, Relating To Actions Constituting Just Cause Grounds For Teacher Certificate Revocation Or Suspension Purposes, So As To Include Breach Of Contract; By Amending Section 59-25-530, Relating To Unprofessional Conduct And Breach Of Contract By Teachers, So As To Recharacterize Certain Actions As Being Breach Of Contract Instead Of Unprofessional Conduct, To Revise The Penalties And Consequences For Such Breaches Of Contract, And To Provide An Exemption From Breach Of Contract Findings For Teachers Who Move To Bona Fide Residences In Noncontiguous Counties During The Contract Term, Among Other Things; By Amending Section 59-26-40, Relating To Continuing Contract Status For Teachers, So As To Require Completion Of Collegial Professional Development, And To Provide Employing Districts Shall Award Credits For Professional Teaching Certificate Renewal To Continuing Contract Teachers Who Successfully Complete Such Collegial Professional Development; By Amending Section 59-26-45, Relating To Retired Educator Teaching Certificates, So As To Make Such Certificates Lifetime In Duration Instead Of Renewable, To Provide Such Teachers May Teach On A Full-time Basis Or Part-time Basis, And To Exempt Such Teachers From Certificate Renewal Requirements; By Repealing Section 59-101-130 Relating To High Schools Reporting To The Superintendent Of Education, And Institutions Of Higher Learning Reporting To High Schools; And By Repealing Section 59-101-140 Relating To Tabulation Of Reports. - Ratified Title

AI Summary

This bill introduces several changes to education-related policies in South Carolina aimed at supporting educators and improving administrative processes. The bill establishes that professional teaching certificates are now permanent and do not require renewal, while still requiring teachers to continue professional learning and development. It authorizes the State Department of Education to use existing data collection processes to report on graduates' postsecondary outcomes and streamline reporting. The bill expands policies allowing teachers to be paid for unused leave and create leave banks for employees to donate unused sick or annual leave to colleagues. It also modifies notification requirements for teacher employment, mandating that districts provide salary information and tentative assignments at least fourteen calendar days before the school year starts. Additionally, the bill increases collegial professional development days from three to four, ensuring teachers have self-directed time for academic data evaluation and classroom preparation. The legislation also adjusts provisions related to teacher contract breaches, recharacterizing some actions and revising associated penalties, and makes several technical changes to education-related statutes. The bill will take effect on July 1, 2025, with some provisions having a delayed implementation date of July 1, 2026.

Committee Categories

Education

Sponsors (45)

Shannon Erickson (R)* Terry Alexander (D),  Carl Anderson (D),  Paula Calhoon (R),  Micah Caskey (R),  Bill Chumley (R),  Neal Collins (R),  April Cromer (R),  Adam Duncan (R),  Sarita Edgerton (R),  Doug Gilliam (R),  Wendell Gilliard (D),  Jerry Govan (D),  Hamilton Grant (D),  Patrick Haddon (R),  Tom Hartnett (R),  Charles Hartz (R),  Bill Hixon (R),  Jay Kilmartin (R),  Brian Lawson (R),  Randy Ligon (R),  Josiah Magnuson (R),  David Martin (R),  John McCravy (R),  Cody Mitchell (R),  Brandon Newton (R),  Weston Newton (R),  Melissa Oremus (R),  Fawn Pedalino (R),  Tommy Pope (R),  Robert Reese (D),  Michael Rivers (D),  Blake Sanders (R),  Carla Schuessler (R),  Mark Smith (R),  Murrell Smith (R),  Tiffany Spann-Wilder (D),  Leon Stavrinakis (D),  Bill Taylor (R),  James Teeple (R),  Jackie Terribile (R),  David Vaughan (R),  Spencer Wetmore (D),  Chris Wooten (R),  Richie Yow (R), 

Last Action

Act No. 12 (on 05/12/2025)

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