Allison chosen to lead House Education Committee

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Rep. Rita Allison of Spartanburg County is the new leader of the House committee that will guide the Legislature’s response to last month’s Supreme Court ruling on education.

The House Education and Public Works Committee elected Allison on Wednesday without objection.

The former school board member and nine-term legislator from Lyman becomes the first woman to lead the committee.

Newly elected Speaker Jay Lucas asked Allison to take the job. She left the House’s budget-writing committee to do so.

Lucas says no one is better qualified to lead a committee that takes on new importance in the upcoming session.

Allison says her committee will work to answer the court’s ruling that lawmakers must correct their failure to ensure all children can succeed in school.