“This was the year for education,” says state lawmaker

As a retired teacher, State Rep. Bill Whitmire is proud of public education strides made by the 123rd legislative session that ended in June. The increased monies that the state’s lawmakers designated are designed to raise the quality of education. But, standing in the way of improvement is a disturbing trend of some of South Carolina’s youngest teachers leaving the profession after only a few years. The problem is especially acute with millennial-age teachers, those who were born between 1980 and the mid 1990s. Whitmire told the Walhalla Rotary Club today that South Carolina is losing one out of every five teachers before they are finishing their fifth year on the job. One way to stop the exodus is to raise the starting salary for teachers, and Whitmire said he’s pleased the lawmakers have authorized raising the starting pay by 10%. South Carolina is also setting aside millions more for school resource officers and for mental health counselors. The availability of additional counselors is seen as key to changing the attitudes of troubled children who might be contemplating sneaking guns onto school grounds and using them.