Tag: Education

By Brandon Roberts, Originally posted by The Summerville Journal Scene on April 27, 2025

Lt. Gov. advocates for youth programs, small businesses, public-private partnerships

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette visited the Summerville Family YMCA at The Ponds on April 24 to discuss the YMCA’s role in the community and emphasize the importance of local partnerships.

During the one-hour tour, YMCA CEO Joe Debney highlighted the organization’s community-focused initiatives, such as drowning prevention programs, outreach efforts, and partnerships with local businesses, nonprofits and elected officials.

“Every single time I have heard her speak, she stresses the importance of small business, public-private partnerships and nonprofits,” Debney said. “Not only here in South Carolina, I’ve seen her do this at the national level with the YMCA.”

Evette expressed her strong support for the YMCA’s work, particularly its effect on youth and seniors. She praised the organization’s programs that teach soft skills to high school students and provide seniors with opportunities to stay active and socially engaged.

“I am a huge champion of the Y, and for so many reasons,” Evette said. “First and foremost, because of the impact you’ve had in your community, not just with young people.”

She also shared her enthusiasm for the YMCA’s historical connections to prominent figures such as Ronald Reagan and Walt Disney.

“Ronald Reagan’s first job was being a lifeguard at the Y, and Walt Disney lived at the Y while he was sketching out his characters,” she said. “All these amazing people who did such impactful things have such a strong connection to the Y.”

Evette also highlighted the YMCA’s role in fostering youth involvement in government, pointing out the Youth in Government program led by the Y.

“It is so important for us to get our younger generation involved in government,” she said, referencing the increased awareness of state government processes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to discussing the YMCA’s contributions, Debney recognized local partnerships that strengthen the organization’s impact. The visit underscored the YMCA’s commitment to community health and its role as a resource for Summerville residents.

PALM to receive funding as part of the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) Lt. Governors’ STEM Scholarship Program

CONWAY, SOUTH CAROLINA – South Carolina Lt. Governor Pamela Evette has announced that Palmetto Academy for Motor Sports is an award recipient of the 2025 NLGA Lt. Governors STEM Scholarship Program!  NLGA will award the school $500 as part of a national call for applications for funding STEM programming and curriculum in schools.

“STEM opportunities are essential for students across all ages, disciplines, and career paths,” said Lt. Governor Evette. “South Carolina stands as a national leader in the automotive, manufacturing, and motorsports industries. Through supporting STEM education at PALM, the NLGA funding is advancing the education and development of South Carolina’s future S.C. workforce.”

PALM is a vocational high school dedicated to preparing students for careers in the motorsports industry. The STEM Scholarship will provide funding for microscopes, enabling students to incorporate microscopy into subjects like biology and chemistry, and to enhance their academic experience through a robust, competency-based curriculum.

NLGA opened the application period for the STEM Scholarship Program in January 2025. The application process was competitive, with NLGA receiving more than 125 requests for STEM funding from schools in 32 states and territories. Twelve schools in 12 states and territories were awarded $500 – $1,000 for STEM-related expenses.

“As the seconds-in-command in state and territorial government, lieutenant governors are uniquely poised to lead on STEM education,” said NLGA Executive Director Kellie Rittershausen. “By supporting STEM-related activities in schools across the country, we can encourage a long-term interest and passion in STEM education in America’s youth.”

The Scholarship Program is administered by NLGA, the nonpartisan, nonprofit association for the nation’s seconds-in-command, and sponsored by ACT, the education and career readiness nonprofit.

“ACT is proud to have been the sponsor of the NLGA STEM scholarship program since its inception and to see its growth and impact over the past 4 years,” ACT CEO Janet Godwin said. “STEM education is crucial for our country’s future workforce which will be increasingly reliant on the critical thinking and problem-solving skills it fosters, regardless of a student’s college or career pathway.  ACT is uniquely poised to meet this moment, and working alongside NLGA, we are committed to ensuring that all students leave high school prepared to enter a world of evolving postsecondary and work opportunities, including those for which a high-quality STEM education are essential.”

Public, private, and tribal schools serving pre-K – 12th grade students in the 50 states and five U.S. territories were invited to apply for funding to support STEM-related activities, programming, curriculum, equipment, and other expenses. Funding will be provided to all winning schools in May.

Additional information on the STEM Scholarship Program can be found at https://nlga.us/state-strategies-in-stem/.

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Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette brings her supporters, friends, and the people of South Carolina her 1st Quarter 2025 e-mail update.

In this edition, we share a few highlights of how Evette is supporting President Trump’s agenda in SC, featured news stories, how Team SC is working to fight SC wildfires + SC business features (large & small), non-profits who are making a difference, and a few personal updates.

Below is March 2025’s opening message from Lt. Gov. Evette.

A Message from Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette

If you’re like me, you can’t believe that it’s already March. 2025 is flying by, and a BIG part of that is how President Trump is taking action in the Oval Office at lightning speed. His dedication to keeping the promises he made and his drive to Make America Great Again is awe inspiring.

What a time to be an American — in the Golden Age!

I am committed to being an ally for our President in South Carolina. I will never stop pushing to keep the Palmetto State winning, today and well into the future!

Lt. Governor Pamela S. Evette

by Haleigh West, originally posted March 24, 2025 by ABC 15 News (WPDE)

The South Carolina Lt. Gov., Pamela Evette, traveled across the Palmetto State to visit several companies that hire young people.

On Friday, she was in Darlington County visiting Sonoco, which hires teenagers straight from the area’s schools.

The goal is to introduce them to career pathways early and give them job experience.

Darlington County School District works to prepare students for the workforce with programs like internships, career exploration and career awareness programs.

ABC15 spoke with two students who are involved in the program, one student who had been through it and another who is taking advantage of the program right now.

“The transition coming in as a teenager at 17 years old, I hadn’t really known a whole lot. And over the course of years between school and Sonoco and Darlington County itself, it helped me learn what I know now.”

ABC15 spoke to the Lt. Gov. who said it is a great effort to give students work experience for those who may not want to jump into college debt.

Event at Fort Dorchester Elementary highlights efforts in South Carolina

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Vision to Learn President Ann Hollister attended a special event Friday, March 14, at Fort Dorchester Elementary School, celebrating the nonprofit’s success in providing vision care to children across South Carolina.

During the event, Evette and Hollister helped 20 students at the school try on their new glasses for the first time. This moment marked a milestone for Vision to Learn’s South Carolina program, which has provided more than 30,000 vision screenings, 12,000 eye exams and 10,000 pairs of glasses to students in need, all at no cost to the child or their family.

“Education is the gateway to success, and for students with vision issues, glasses are the gateway to learning,” Evette said. “I’m proud to partner with Vision to Learn to help ensure our children have access to the eye care they need to reach their full potential.”

Since its launch in 2021, Vision to Learn has expanded its reach in South Carolina, assisting students in Charleston and Dorchester counties. The program serves as one of the state’s most comprehensive school-based initiatives for children’s eye care.

“Vision to Learn has been a game changer for students in Dorchester County,” said Dorchester School District Two Interim Superintendent Chad Dougherty. “By providing eye exams and glasses to students where they are every day – at their neighborhood school – this effort has delivered access to care that was sorely lacking for many of our students.”

Vision to Learn, a national nonprofit founded in 2012, seeks to address the disparity in access to eye care, especially in low-income communities. According to the organization, about 1-in-4 children need glasses, but many go without the proper care. In South Carolina alone, an estimated 100,000 students lack the necessary glasses.

“More than 3 million children across the country go to school every day without the glasses they need,” said Vision To Learn Founder Austin Beutner. “Every child in every school, everywhere in the country, should have the glasses they need to succeed in school and in life.”

For more information on Vision to Learn and its programs, visit www.visiontolearn.org

by ABC NEWS 4 STAFF. Originally published February 20th 2025

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette will be the featured guest at the upcoming Charleston Business & Brews event in March.

Slated for Thursday, March 13, at New Realm Brewing on Daniel Island, the event, which runs from 5 to 7:30 p.m., is free and open to the public.

Evette, the 93rd lieutenant governor of South Carolina and the state’s first female Republican to hold the position is known for her entrepreneurial spirit. She founded Quality Business Solutions, a payroll, HR, and benefits services firm, which grew into one of the nation’s fastest-growing small businesses under her leadership.

Since taking office in January 2019, Evette has focused on leveraging her professional experience to benefit South Carolina’s businesses and communities. She has been an advocate for the state’s small business ecosystem and has worked to attract new businesses to the area.

The event is organized by Follywood Productions and sponsored by companies including HNTB, Kavalyn Custom Solutions, Apostioli, and Ridge Media. New Realm Brewing is located at 880 Island Park Dr., Charleston, SC 29492.

By Lamaur Stancil, originally published February 3, 2025 in the Post & Courier Rock Hill

ROCK HILL — It’s not just a place to play.

Rock Hill’s Miracle Park, featuring a playground, a baseball field and a general-use field, emphasizes the inclusion of children with disabilities who also want to participate.

On Jan. 31, city officials led a groundbreaking ceremony for the next phases of the 15-year park, which opened in 2021 as a joint effort among Rock Hill, Winthrop University and a slew of donors.

“It’s great to have an accessible park, but we also need a place where there’s community and belonging,” said Kylie Carroll, executive director for Miracle Park, located between Eden Terrace and Cherry Road, near Winthrop.

Miracle Park, Rock Hill

Miracle Park in Rock Hill; Lamaur Stancil/staff

Throughout York County, 2025 could be a transformative year for parks. In Fort Mill, the town is preparing to receive bids for a renovation plan for Walter Y. Elisha Park.

And the York County Parks and Recreation Department in January released its strategic plan for its facilities.

At Miracle, the Phase 2 plans include adding a second baseball field, a multi-purpose field for football and pickleball, a fishing pond and more parking.

Phase 3 will place a retail space at the corner of Cherry and Richmond Drive. That will be Miracle Coffee, where adults with disabilities will be trained to work. MaxAbilities of York County, a nonprofit agency that provides assistance to people with disabilities, will run the shop.

“There’s nothing like this anywhere in the U.S. of this magnitude, serving people with disabilities as its primary objective,” said real estate developer Warren Norman at the groundbreaking event.

Miracle Field, for example, is wheelchair accessible and has a rubberized surface with painted bases, designed for individuals with physical and cognitive challenges. The dugouts there are also wheelchair friendly.

By Seanna Adcox — originally posted by the South Carolina Daily Gazette on January 14, 2025

COLUMBIA — Gov. Henry McMaster is asking legislators to increase teachers’ minimum pay to $50,000, keep college tuition steady, and allow people to buy state lottery tickets with a debit card.

Those are among the recommendations in his $13 billion budget package released Monday, a day ahead of the Legislature’s return to the Statehouse.

A $50,000 salary floor for first-year teachers in 2025 would reach his goal a year ahead of schedule and represent a 66% increase in starting pay since 2017, when he became governor.

The additional $200 million his proposal distributes to K-12 schools would increase minimum pay by $3,000 across the so-called salary schedule, which pays teachers according to their years of experience and level of college degree. And, unlike last year, he is not seeking to change when pay rises — an idea that brought a backlash from veteran teachers with advanced degrees.

The Republican governor also made clear that legislators need to keep increasing pay beyond the accomplished goal.

“I emphasize again we should not stop there,” McMaster told reporters about the $50,000 recommendation. “We must have educated young people.”

The latest report on teacher vacancies, released in November, showed the first break in ever-increasing shortages since 2019. Pay increases that have climbed above the Southeastern average could help explain the reduction.

Comparing South Carolina to its next-door neighbors, the state-paid minimum for first-year teachers in Georgia this school year is just shy of $43,600, and in North Carolina, it’s $41,000. That’s $6,000 less than in South Carolina. However, as in South Carolina, school districts in surrounding states often use local taxes to pay more than state minimums.

This school year’s state-paid average is $57,250. But with local supplements, 16 of South Carolina’s 72 school districts already start teachers at or above $50,000.

Those districts wouldn’t be required to boost salaries more. The increased fiscal autonomy legislators gave them several years ago allows them to use their state aid however they want, as long as they pay teachers the state minimums.

McMaster’s proposal also puts $29.4 million toward hiring 177 additional school resource officers, which would fulfill his push to have an armed officer at every public K-12 school. When he set the goal in 2018, following a mass shooting at a high school in Florida, 406 schools had an officer. That number’s grown to 1,106 this year.

His budget also funds a third year of $20 million grants for school safety improvements. Last year’s awards included $2 million to lock up student’ cellphones during the day.

Colleges

As for higher education, McMaster seeks to freeze college tuition for in-state students for a sixth consecutive year.

However, the $29 million his plan distributes in exchange for that promise is less than a quarter of what colleges say they need to keep tuition steady. Arguing there’s no rationale to colleges’ requests, the governor’s budget creates a “tuition mitigation” calculation that involves tuition, inflation, and the number of in-state, undergraduate students.

He recommends putting $100 million toward the University of South Carolina’s efforts to build a highly specialized hospital for strokes, dementia and other diseases affecting the brain and nervous system.

That’s $50 million less than USC is requesting in state aid for the estimated $350 million project in downtown Columbia’s BullStreet District.

Lottery sales

Beyond using lottery profits to fund merit-based college scholarships, McMaster wants to continue spending $100 million on need-based financial aidand $95 million on scholarships at technical colleges that prepare students for high-demand jobs.

But keeping that tuition aid flowing from lottery sales, he said, will require ditching the cash-only rule for buying tickets.

Lottery profits are expected to bring in $64.5 million less this fiscal year compared to last. And they’re projected to continue falling by $35.5 million next fiscal year, according to the state Board of Economic Advisors’ November forecast.

But enabling people to buy lottery tickets with debit cards could turn that around. According to the Lottery Commission, that would generate an additional $52 million.

According to the governor, South Carolina is one of only three states that require cash-only lottery sales, with Tennessee and Wyoming being the other two.

McMaster, who as state GOP chairman campaigned against the lottery ahead of the 2000 referendum, said he remains opposed to gambling.

Asked why he now supports making it easier for people to play, he said, “there are a lot of young people who got an education” from lottery-funded scholarships who couldn’t otherwise afford it, and the state shouldn’t abandon that.

Fewer people are buying lottery tickets partly because of the cash-only rule. Not only do fewer people carry cash, but a lot of stores no longer even allow cash payments, he said.

Allowing debit purchases would keep up with the times without allowing people to go into debt to play the lottery, he said. He’s against allowing credit card purchases, since that can run up a debt, but likened using a debit card to spending only what’s in your pocket.

“If we don’t allow changes of that program, the chances of being able to do what we’re supposed to are slim,” McMaster told reporters.

Tax cuts

As for how to further cut income taxes, he’s leaving that to legislators.

McMaster’s budget gives no specific recommendations beyond completing the tax cuts provided in a 2022 law, which is on track to be fully phased in next year.

Cuts should continue “as much as we can, and as fast as we can,” he said.

But he made no suggestion on the numbers. House Republicans have made “historic income tax cuts” a top priority. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey has said the Legislature should go beyond cutting income taxes to overhaul the tax code. There is no plan yet.

The governor’s budget proposal is just that — a proposal, which legislators can use as a guide or ignore. They generally do some of both.

However, McMaster’s had better success than his predecessors with his budget recommendations, largely because he meets with legislative leaders ahead of releasing his plan and works with them through the process — rather than publicly criticizing them. The gist of many of his recommendations make it to the final budget package, though the details or dollar amount are often different.

Employees’ health care

McMaster’s budget plan again provides pay raises for state law enforcement but includes no across-the-board cost-of-living raise for other state employees.

However, it would fully fund increases in state employees and teachers’ health care premiums, representing the 13th consecutive year they would pay nothing more out of pocket for their health care expenses.

Covering that increase will cost more than $112 million next fiscal year, bringing the total rise in employees’ premiums over four years to almost $450 million.

“Long-term, it is simply unsustainable for the state health plan to require over $100 million additional dollars annually,” the budget reads.

So, he’s calling for a cost study, saying health insurers contracted by the agency that oversees employee benefits need to propose cost savings to slow the rate of growth.

The State Health Plan provides health insurance for more than 540,000 public employees, their spouses and dependents. They include employees of K-12 school districts, colleges, state agencies and retired government workers.

The budget plan includes an additional $55.4 million in state taxes just to maintain health services for South Carolinians covered by Medicaid, the government-paid health plan for the poor and disabled.

Asked about the potential of supporting an expansion of Medicaid eligibility to more poor adults, the reply from his office was quick: No.

Photo Info + Credit: S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette during the governor’s state budget press conference in Columbia, S.C. on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Travis Bell/STATEHOUSE CAROLINA/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)

Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette brings her supporters, friends, and the people of South Carolina her 4th Quarter e-mail update. As our state continues to recover following Hurricane Helene and we look forward to having President Trump back in the White House, here are a few highlights on election night, honors / recognition, podcasts, and #TeamSC working together towards recovery +  S.C. business features (large & small), S.C. non-profits who are making a difference, and a few personal updates.

Below is December 2024’s opening message from Lt. Gov. Evette.

A Message from Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette

As we celebrate this holiday season and approach the end of 2024, our state and nation have so much to be thankful for. As Lt. Governor, I was incredibly proud of how Team SC and all South Carolinians came together in the aftermath of hurricane Helene — helping one another and our neighbors to the north in Western North Carolina.

I am also grateful that Americans across the nation came out and voted in November for a return to common sense and for strong family values. Thank you to all of you for helping to get our nation back on the right track starting with the election of President Trump.

I wish all of you, your families, and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas and many blessings in the New Year!

Lt. Governor Pamela S. Evette

By Jane Robelot. Originally posted by WYFF News 4 on 11/7/2024

The governor’s office’s strong relationship with Trump helps South Carolina.

GREENVILLE, S.C. — The election night party in Palm Beach, Florida, became more electric when Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign announced she would not address her supporters gathered at Howard University until the following day.

Cheering Republicans at Donald Trump’s official watch party knew that meant their candidate would soon have the electoral votes needed to secure the White House.

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and her husband David were among the invited guests.

She tells WYFF News 4 that the mood of the room was “high energy” all night: “It was a great day to be a Trump supporter, and it was a great night to be celebrating with everybody who has worked so hard across our nation to get him back in the White House.”

And as each state ticked red, the party intensified, Evette said.

“You could tell as they finally called Georgia and they called North Carolina, and Pennsylvania was looking good for us; the mood just kept getting bigger and bigger until it rose to the level of a President Trump win and President Trump taking the stage with his family,” she said.

Evette credits Trump with bringing new voices to the Republican tent and anticipates it will bring new growth to the party: “I think it’s a great testament to the legacy he’s going to leave, bringing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. into the mix and Tulsi Gabbard, bringing in Elon Musk and Joe Rogan, to get the best and brightest into the room, and make great quality changes to make America great again.”

Evette believes the Trump victory will translate into a strong working relationship between the White House and the South Carolina governor’s office, which she says is a win for South Carolina.Ec

Click here to watch a video to hear more about how that relationship benefits South Carolina.