Senate education subcommittee advances array of budget provisos; debates NIL, SARA role, Palmetto Excel funding

A Senate education subcommittee met to reconcile and consider a slate of budget provisos and amendments affecting K-12 programs, charter schools and education grants. Members approved several changes, deleted a controversial charter-school funding request and carried over one staffing-reduction amendment for later consideration.

The actions affect a range of items in the draft education budget, from prohibiting name-image-likeness (NIL) payments for secondary students to clarifying when district-selected benchmark assessments can affect final grades. Committee members also debated whether SARA (the Statewide Agency referenced in the hearing) should remain the administrative home for a rural teacher recruiting incentive and whether line-item funding for Palmetto Excel — a charter-run adult education program — should be continued.

Why it matters: The subcommittee’s votes will shape how state education dollars are administered and which programs receive continuing support; several measures change the state’s role in program oversight and in how local districts may use certain assessments or services.

Most significant actions and outcomes

• NIL in high schools — The panel approved language amending a previously adopted proviso to make explicit that the budget does not authorize students in secondary schools to earn compensation for the use of their name, image or likeness (NIL). The amendment restates the subcommittee’s prohibition on compensated NIL activity at the high school level.

• Rural teacher recruiting and SARA funding — Members debated a house amendment that would have barred SARA funds from covering costs associated with hiring international teachers (visa fees, salaries and related expenses). After discussion about SARA’s future and how program administration might be reassigned, the committee voted to strike the house-added prohibition and adopt the proviso as amended so the program can continue to be administered through SARA in the near term while the panel examines SARA’s long-term role.

• Palmetto Excel funding removed — The panel voted to delete the line in the developmental education proviso that had requested funding for Palmetto Excel, a public charter school program in Charleston that had sought larger expansion funding in prior years. The committee asked staff to report back on any students mid-program who might be affected if funding is cut.

• Standardized benchmarks and grades — The committee adopted amended language clarifying that district-selected benchmark assessments, rather than vendor standardized benchmarks, may be used for formative purposes and that the proviso does not apply to end-of-course assessments. Members discussed concerns about how narrowly instruction and assessment must align for graded measures.

• Activity buses and insurance/liability — The panel adopted a permissive proviso allowing school districts to make activity buses available to nonprofit organizations and to impose fees and conditions; the language emphasizes local discretion and that districts retain liability responsibilities.

• Foundational literacy training and tutoring rules — New provisos to direct statewide foundational literacy training for educators and to clarify timing and eligibility for high-intensity tutoring funds were adopted; one member noted sole-source language but moved to adopt the measure.

• Charter governance conflict of interest — The committee adopted language barring employees of third-party charter management organizations from serving on the charter school’s governing board, citing conflict-of-interest concerns and ongoing charter accountability work in the education committee.

• Miscellaneous procedural and program moves — The subcommittee approved transferring the educator-report-card program from the Commission on Higher Education (CHE) to the Department of Education, amended the school-nurse proviso to better reflect statewide model policy language, and adopted a library-related proviso after staff indicated state library involvement.

• Large fiscal items noted — The panel reviewed a homestead-exemption surplus allocation included in budget language that would allocate $114,000,000 of surplus toward income tax relief (the committee referred to the item as conforming language). A separate line for dental education therapy services of $3,300,000 remained in the draft proviso.

Carried over for further work

• Superintendent staffing-reduction authorization — A proposed amendment to authorize the state superintendent to implement up to a 25% reduction in force at the department was carried over. Committee members asked for a follow-up hearing with the superintendent and more detail before considering an authorization of that magnitude.

Process notes and context

Committee discussion combined technical edits to provisional budget language with policy questions about program administration and long-term ownership of initiatives that now sit in small state entities. Several members urged a coordinated review of programs currently managed by SARA, Winthrop University and other agencies before shifting line-item funding. One senator argued multiple times that overlapping programs should be consolidated or given an off-ramp, while others cautioned about shifting costs to rural districts already facing staffing shortages.

Members also removed several older provisos they described as redundant with codified law (discussion referenced Read to Succeed and local FOIA requirements) and directed staff to return with impact information where funding deletions could affect students currently enrolled in ongoing programs.

Next steps

Most amended provisos approved by the subcommittee will proceed to the full committee and then to the floor as part of the broader budget reconciliation process. The superintendent staffing amendment will be revisited after additional briefings; the subcommittee chair indicated plans to propose changes to the grants committee’s structure based on how the current grants/off-ramp model has performed.