AP: Retroactive teacher raises advance in SC House

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)– The South Carolina House has approved a bill to reinstate some teacher raises into this year’s budget. The bill would restore “step increase” raises that amount to several hundred dollars a year given as teachers gain experience. Legislators paused the pay bumps last spring due to uncertainty of how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect the economy. The bill faces one last vote in the House before it can move to the Senate. The bill, approved Thursday, would dedicate up $50 million to restoring the raises for the current school year. Teachers would get the money in a lump sum payment from their school districts.