Key Takeaways
- “South Carolina’s educators are frontline experts. We must speak as a collective voice to create powerful, positive change.”
- As an affiliate of the largest educator-led association in the country, The SCEA’s legislative priorities reflect the values and issues most pressing to educators and school staff in the state of South Carolina.
- Two key issues that The SCEA members will be advocating for this coming session are contract dates and protected planning time.
COLUMBIA – On the evening of Nov. 3, The South Carolina Education Association (The SCEA) released its priorities and agenda for the 2022 legislative session in a Facebook Live Legislative Agenda Townhall.
“South Carolina’s educators are frontline experts. There is no voice louder, more powerful, or more respected than the voice of every South Carolina educator speaking out as one,” said The SCEA President Sherry East. “We must speak as a collective voice to create powerful, positive change.”
The SCEA is the only professional association for educators that has a national, state, and local presence. As a result, The SCEA’s agenda represents the collective voice of educators across South Carolina.
This past year, nearly 700 teaching positions were unfilled statewide, a 26% increase over the prior year. Our schools have lost, on average, 6,634 teachers annually over the past five years. To address the recruitment and retention crisis, it’s time for legislative decision makers to listen to the expertise and concerns of the frontline educators that work in classrooms and serve students daily.
In addition, two key issues that The SCEA will be advocating for this coming session are contract dates and protected planning time. The full legislative agenda can be found at www.thescea.org/legagenda.
“Whenever we have that opportunity to tell our stories, it’s really important to share our experiences,” said MaryRita Watson, chair of The SCEA Legislative Committee. “Our voices together can be the loudest ones.”
The SCEA urges all educators and public education advocates in South Carolina to commit to taking action to advocate for the schools South Carolina’s students and educators deserve in the second half of the 124th South Carolina General Assembly.
To share the issues that matter most, The SCEA asks educators to visit www.thescea.org/commit.
