MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW)- South Carolina state senators are revamping their version of the education overhaul bill after the House passed their’s Wednesday.
Senator Greg Hembree, Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said he expects a lot of back and forth on the more than 80-page piece of legislation.
One part of the House bill Senator Hembree supports is giving the state education and superintendent the ability to take over low performing school districts. Something he said will come with a lot of debate. The state recently took over Florence School District 4 due to financial issues.
“If local leadership is poor then that school is going to suffer. We can’t continue to do what we’re doing and throw more money at it and hope it will get better on it’s own because it hasn’t in 75 years,” said Sen. Hembree.
Hembree is also in favor of consolidating smaller school districts which would affect four school districts in our area.
“If you’ve got only 600 students you’re serving in a district, clearly, you’re not able to provide the same level of instruction as a bigger district,” said Hembree.
The Senate’s version does differ from the House’s. The Senate slashed a student and teacher’s bill of rights. Hembree said those are good aspiration goals, but thinks it could open itself up to lawsuits.
“They imply some sort of legal actionable right and that was not the intention of that bill,” said Sen. Hembree.
The Senate also did away with The Zero to Twenty Committee which is meant to oversee education from Pre-K to the workforce. Hembree said they already have a commitee that can do that.
The House bill wants to eliminate four statewide test. The Senate wants to get rid of three and keep the U.S. History end of course test.
“That citizenship piece is a foundational piece in there, so I think in our version we will leave that in there,” said Sen. Hembree.
The Senate subcomittee with have a public hearing on this bill in Hartsville on Monday.
They will also hold one in Georgetown and Gaffney.
Hembree said they hope to finish their version by the end of March then work with the house to get a bill signed by the governor.
To read the House version of the bill click here.