S.C. House Plan Cuts Raises for New Teachers

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

Some teachers in South Carolina teachers might not get the raise they expected in the upcoming year if the state’s house budget bill is approved. The plan, which provides pay raises for all state employees, but also raises health care premium increases as well.

The move, which seeks to bring all starting teacher salaries in the state to a minimum of $48,500, would affect only one of the five school districts in Anderson County. School Dist. 1 currently pays starting teachers $47,900, but officials there say that will increase beyond the new minimum state proposed salaries in the coming school year. Dist. 2 currently pays teachers right out of college $50,002, Dist. 3 $49,320, Dist. 4 $49,313 and Dist. 4 $50,000.

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and S.C. Superintendent Ellen Weaver requested $3,000 raises for teachers, bringing a new teacher salary to $50,000 for the 2025-2026 school year, a move which would cost $200 million. The house plan reduces the increase in pay to $1,500 for all K-12 public school teachers.

First-year teachers in the coming school year would make no less than $48,500, up from the current $47,000, under the house plan. How much teachers actually make depends on the district, since many use local property taxes to supplement state aid. Districts that already pay above the state minimums have the authority to use their additional state aid however their school boards decide.

State employees would pay an additional $36.76 monthly, about $440 annually, for health care premiums. Retirees enrolled in the health plan would not be affected by the price increases.