Teacher raises back on table as SC senators discuss budget

SC State House ABC Columbia image

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)–South Carolina senators will likely consider whether to restore the annual raises most teachers get each year to the state budget when they return to Columbia next week for a special session amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Senate Finance Committee is working on a proposal to spend $40 million out of about $775 million saved up over the past two years on what are called step increases.

Those are pay raises of usually about several hundred dollars a year given to teachers as they gain experience.

Lawmakers suspended the raises in the spring because of the uncertainty of what the COVID-19 pandemic might do to the economy.