COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – A South Carolina House committee has passed a bill to reinstate some increases for teachers in this year’s budget.
The House Forms and Appeals Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to move the bill forward to the entire House.
The project would restore the “gradual increase” increases for teachers, which amount to several hundred dollars a year given annually as teachers gain experience.
The bill would devote about $ 50 million to restoring increases for the current school year, although lawmakers say that number is currently a placeholder until they determine what the actual cost of school district increases would be.
Lawmakers halted increases last spring due to uncertainty about what the pandemic COVID-19 could do to the economy.
“We are honoring the commitments we made at the end of last year,” said Ways and Means President Murrell Smith.
The committee also put forward legislation to increase funding for charter schools on Thursday.
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