South Carolina Legislature passes ‘schools of innovation’ bill

(The Center Square) – The South Carolina General Assembly has passed legislation that would allow public school districts to expand innovative teaching methods.

House Bill 3589 would allow local districts to operate multiple “schools of innovation,” whereas current law permits each district to only operate one such school within its boundaries. Such a move would require a three-fourths vote by the local school board and approval by the State Board of Education.

Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Myrtle Beach, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, explained the bill to the committee in February, but stopped short of calling it school-choice legislation.

“This gives a public school district the ability to experiment with new ideas,” he said. “The really better word to describe what schools are doing is ‘innovation’ so that was the reason for that decision.”

The South Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity praised the bill, saying it would allow teachers to try novel education delivery methods.

“South Carolina families and students are now one step closer to gaining access to a more individualized education that fits their needs,” the group said in a statement. “The pandemic highlighted that our system needs more innovation rather than continuing the conformity and one-size-fits-all status quo.”

Some public school advocates criticized the bill.

“We don’t want it to open the door for third-party private school operators coming in and taking over our neighborhood schools,” Sarah Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Charleston Area Community Voice for Education, told WCIV-TV.

Amendments to the bill to prevent something like that happening, “only made a bad bill better,” Johnson said, but she added her group still did not want to see it pass.

Others disagreed.

“One thing I really like about it is it says you can’t just apply for waivers and then come up with a plan,” Charleston County School Board member Kristen French told the media. “You have to have a plan to accompany your waiver request.”

The measure was introduced in January and went back and forth between the House and Senate several times as language was tweaked and amendments were added.

HB 3589 was introduced in January and passed the House, 81-32. The Senate approved it, 43-0, on March 4 before sending its version back to the House, which passed it with changes, 106-1, on March 17.

Changes made by the House were rejected outright by the Senate, 45-0, on March 21. The final vote in the House on April 15 was 88-21 in favor, and the Senate’s final vote was 42-1 in favor on Wednesday.

The bill now awaits Gov. Henry McMaster’s signature.

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