FORT MILL, S.C. — A bill that would require every school in South Carolina to offer 5-day-a-week, in-person instruction before the end of the month is now being debated by senators.
The bill, S.704, passed the house by overwhelming margins and now heads to the Senate where it is likely to receive the same support.
READ THE BILL: South Carolina State House Bill 704
If it becomes law, the bill would mandate school districts offer the full-time in-person option by April 26th; it would require that same instruction opportunity for the 2021-2022 school year.
However, there are teachers across the state that are now worried about what the bill does not contain: Lawmakers stripped a provision that would have protected educators from teaching in-person and online at the same time.
The so-called dual-modality model is something many school districts implemented during the 2020-2021 school year to address the staffing challenges and meet the needs of the large number of families that opted for remote instruction.
Many teachers lament the teaching model, saying it makes instruction difficult for students both at home and in person. They also report that it is a challenge to plan lessons that can accommodate both simultaneously.
“We’re really saddened and disappointed,” said Patrick Kelly, a spokesperson for the Palmetto State Teachers Association.
Kelly said their organization surveyed more than 1,500 teachers and learned more than half of them reported they would leave their classroom or school if they were required to teach both online and in-person at the same time.
South Carolina has been gripped with a teacher shortage for several years that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Lawmakers have sought to find ways to address the growing needs in the classroom, including a bill debated earlier this month that would allow non-certified people the opportunity to teach in schools for up to two years.
In the most recent bill that sends students back full time, there was a provision that would have paid retired teachers at a premium rate to return to the classrooms for a few years. Lawmakers struck down that provision as well.
The teachers' association, S.C. for Ed, issued a call to action this week, asking educators across the state to contact their lawmakers and ask the senate to add back the protections that restrict dual-modality teaching models.
In a meeting this week, educators with S.C. for Ed held an information session for prospective teachers where they addressed the toll this school year has taken.
“If you do not in your soul of souls, the deepest part of your body, love what you do this is not the career,” said Katie Harris, a teacher in York County. “Even the ones who love it in our souls have had a really hard time staying in the job we love.”