Historical public education information in South Carolina, 2011-2015

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Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

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Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

This page contains archived information on South Carolina's public education system, primarily from 2011-2012, but also from other years due to the availability of data at the time it was written. For more recent information, view South Carolina's public education page.

The South Carolina public school system (prekindergarten through grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards and superintendents. In 2012 South Carolina had 727,186 students enrolled in a total of 1,223 schools in 105 school districts. There were 46,782 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 16 students, compared to the national average of 1:16. There was roughly one administrator for every 281 students, compared to the national average of one administrator for every 295 students. On average South Carolina spent $8,986 per pupil in 2011, which ranked it 38th highest in the nation. The state's graduation rate was 75 percent in 2012.

State agencies

See also: South Carolina Department of Education

The mission statement of the South Carolina Department of Education reads:

“

Our mission is to ensure that every student in South Carolina receives an education that meets their individual needs, while also preparing them to be contributing members of society. We work closely with students, parents, teachers, staff, school districts, government officials, and the media to facilitate the best possible education for South Carolina’s students.

”

The Superintendent of Education is responsible generally for the administration of the Department of Education. The Superintendent of Education is elected to four-year terms. As of June 2015, the officeholder of this position was Molly Mitchell Spearman. Her predecessor was Mick Zais.

The South Carolina State Board of Education is the governing body for public elementary and secondary education in the state. The board is composed of 17 members: 16 are appointed from each of the state's judicial circuits by their respective legislative delegations and one is appointed directly by the governor. Members serve four-year terms.

Regional comparison

See also: General comparison table for education statistics in the 50 states and Education spending per pupil in all 50 states

The following chart shows how South Carolina compared to three neighboring states in school year 2011-2012 with respect to number of students, schools, the number of teachers per pupil, and the number of administrators per pupil. Further comparisons between these states with respect to performance and financial information are given in other sections of this page.

Regional comparison, 2011-2012
State	Schools	Districts	Students	Teachers	Teacher/pupil ratio	Administrator/pupil ratio	Per pupil spending
South Carolina	1,223	105	727,186	46,782	1:15.5	1:281.1	$8,986
Georgia	2,388	216	1,685,016	111,133	1:15.2	1:274.9	$9,253
North Carolina	2,577	236	1,507,864	97,308	1:15.5	1:287.8	$8,312
Tennessee	1,802	140	999,693	66,382	1:15.1	1:293.2	$8,242
United States	98,328	17,992	49,521,669	3,103,263	16	295.2	$10,994
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey", 2011-12 v.1a. National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 2. Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011–12" U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Demographics

See also: Demographic information for all students in all 50 states

The following table displays the ethnic distribution of students in South Carolina as reported in the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for 2011-2012.

Demographic information for South Carolina's K-12 public school system
Ethnicity	Students	State percentage	United States percentage**
American Indian	2,142	0.29%	1.10%
Asian	9,834	1.35%	4.68%
African American	259,170	35.64%	15.68%
Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Isl.	840	0.12%	0.42%
Hispanic	48,644	6.69%	24.37%
White	386,941	53.21%	51.21%
Two or more	19,615	2.70%	2.54%
**Note: This is the percentage of all students in the United States that are reported to be of this ethnicity.

Enrollments by region type

See also: Student distribution by region type in the United States

A plurality of students in South Carolina attended rural schools during school year 2011-2012. Approximately 58 percent of the state's students attended rural or town schools, compared to the approximately 42 percent who attended city or suburban schools.

Student distribution by region type, 2011-2012 (as percents)
State	City schools	Suburban schools	Town schools	Rural schools
South Carolina	17.4%	24.3%	14.3%	44%
Georgia	14%	38%	9.9%	38%
North Carolina	25.9%	14.1%	11.6%	48.4%
Tennessee	29.8%	16.1%	14%	40.2%
U.S. average	28.9%	34%	11.6%	25.4%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD)

Academic performance

Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Compared to three neighboring states (Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee), South Carolina had the smallest share of fourth grade students who scored at or above proficient in both math and reading in school year 2012-2013.

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
	Math - Grade 4	Math - Grade 8	Reading - Grade 4	Reading - Grade 8
South Carolina	35%	31%	28%	29%
Georgia	39%	29%	34%	32%
North Carolina	45%	36%	35%	33%
Tennessee	40%	28%	34%	33%
U.S. average	41%	34%	34%	34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for South Carolina and surrounding states for 2012 and 2013.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores*
State	Graduation rate, 2012		Average ACT composite, 2012		Average SAT composite, 2013
	Percent	Quintile ranking**	Score	Participation rate	Score	Participation rate
South Carolina	75%	Fourth	20.2	57%	1,436	64%
Georgia	70%	Fifth	20.7	52%	1,452	75%
North Carolina	80%	Third	21.9	20%	1,479	62%
Tennessee	87%	First	19.7	100%	1,709	8%
U.S. average	80%		21.1		1,498
*Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation). **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express

Dropout Rates

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for South Carolina was lower than the national average at 2.8 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 2.5 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.

Educational choice options

See also: School choice in South Carolina

As of June 2015, school choice options in South Carolina included: charter schools, a tax incentive program, inter-district open enrollment policies and online learning programs. In addition, about 7.46 percent of school-age children in the state attended private schools in the 2011-2012 academic year, and an estimated 2.67 percent were homeschooled in 2012-2013.

Education funding and expenditures

See also: South Carolina state budget and finances

Breakdown of expenditures by function in fiscal year 2012
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), the state spent approximately 15.9 percent of its fiscal year 2012 budget on elementary and secondary education. As a share of the budget, this is down 2.9 percentage points, or 15.4 percent, from fiscal year 2008, when the state spent 18.8 percent of its budget on elementary and secondary education.

Comparison of financial figures for school systems
State	Percent of budget (2012)	Per pupil spending (2011)	Revenue sources (2011)
			Percent federal funds	Percent state funds	Percent local funds
South Carolina	15.9%	$8,986	13.4%	43.45%	43.15%
Georgia	24%	$9,253	12.57%	41.58%	45.85%
North Carolina	23.2%	$8,312	14.12%	52.04%	33.85%
Tennessee	17.7%	$8,242	14.72%	45.75%	39.53%
Sources: NASBO, "State Expenditure Report," Table 8: Elementary and Secondary Education Expenditures As a Percent of Total Expenditures U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Revenue breakdowns

See also: Public school system revenues in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system revenues in South Carolina totaled approximately $7.8 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including revenue sources, for South Carolina and surrounding states.

Revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	Federal revenue	State revenue	Local revenue	Total revenue
South Carolina	$1,051,679	$3,408,719	$3,385,398	$7,845,796
Georgia	$2,267,612	$7,499,327	$8,268,366	$18,035,305
North Carolina	$2,086,278	$7,690,062	$5,001,904	$14,778,244
Tennessee	$1,272,825	$3,955,476	$3,417,293	$8,645,594
U.S. total	$74,943,767	$267,762,416	$264,550,594	$607,256,777
Source: National Center for Education Statistics

\| \n <pbars size=650x300 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Federal revenue,State revenue,Local revenue South Carolina,13.40,43.45,43.15 Georgia,12.57,41.58,45.85 North Carolina,14.12,52.04,33.85 Tennessee,14.72,45.75,39.53 U.S. total,12.34,44.09,43.56 </pbars>

Public school revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Expenditure breakdowns

See also: Public school system expenditures in the United States

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system expenditures in South Carolina totaled approximately $7.9 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including expenditure types, for South Carolina and surrounding states.

Expenditures by type, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	General expenditures**	Capital outlay	Other***	Total expenditures
South Carolina	$6,455,918	$1,018,769	$455,360	$7,930,047
Georgia	$15,465,308	$1,368,403	$291,801	$17,125,512
North Carolina	$12,335,701	$1,058,530	$675,207	$14,069,438
Tennessee	$7,977,696	$661,195	$295,742	$8,934,633
U.S. total	$520,577,893	$52,984,139	$29,581,293	$603,143,325
**Funds spent operating local public schools and local education agencies, including such expenses as salaries for school personnel, student transportation, school books and materials, and energy costs, but excluding capital outlay, interest on school debt, payments to private schools, and payments to public charter schools. ***Includes payments to state and local governments, payments to private schools, interest on school system indebtedness, and nonelementary-secondary expenditures, such as adult education and community services expenditures. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

\| \n <pbars size=500x300 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Current expenditures,Capital outlay,Other South Carolina,81.41,12.85,5.74 Georgia,90.31,7.99,1.70 North Carolina,87.68,7.52,4.80 Tennessee,89.29,7.40,3.31 U.S. total,86.31,8.78,4.90 </pbars>

Public school expenditures, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Personnel salaries

See also: Public school teacher salaries in the United States

Note: Salaries given are averages for the state. Salaries may vary between a state's urban, suburban, and rural districts and should be adjusted for cost of living. For example, a MacIver Institute study of average teacher salaries in 60 metropolitan areas found that salaries in New York City were the third-highest in absolute figures but 59th-highest when adjusted for the cost of living.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary for classroom teachers in public elementary and secondary schools declined by 1.3 percent from the 1999-2000 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. During the same period in South Carolina, the average salary decreased by 2.8 percent.

Estimated average salaries for teachers (in constant dollars**)
	1999-2000	2009-2010	2011-2012	2012-2013	Percent difference
South Carolina	$49,308	$50,712	$48,217	$47,924	-2.8%
Georgia	$56,062	$56,694	$53,819	$52,880	-5.7%
North Carolina	$53,849	$50,010	$46,712	$45,947	-14.7%
Tennessee	$49,645	$49,412	$47,866	$48,289	-2.7%
U.S. average	$57,133	$58,925	$56,340	$56,383	-1.3%
**"Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state."

Organizations

Unions

In 2012 the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now assessed the power and influence of state teacher unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their rankings were based on 37 different variables in five broad areas, including: resources and membership, involvement in politics, scope of bargaining, state policies and perceived influence. South Carolina ranked 49th overall, or "weakest," which was in the fifth of five tiers.

The main union related to the South Carolina school system is the South Carolina Education Association (SCEA), an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA).

List of local South Carolina school unions:

• South Carolina Education Association
• Greenville County Education Association

Government sector lobbying

See also: South Carolina government sector lobbying

The main education government sector lobbying organization is the South Carolina School Boards Association.

The South Carolina House of Representatives rejected a proposal in March 2010 that would have prohibited school districts from using taxpayer money to fund government sector lobbying associations. Representative Boyd Brown introduced the budget amendment, which would have eliminated government sector lobbying and prohibited the use of tax dollars for dues at any "organization which employs a lobbyist." The bill failed on March 18, 2010 by one vote.

According to reports, public universities in the state had spent more than $1.5 million on lobbying as of September 2010.

Transparency

"South Carolina Spending Transparency" is the transparency website sponsored by the state. It discloses information about South Carolina's spending and is managed by the Comptroller General. Then-Governor Mark Sanford signed South Carolina Executive Order 2007-14, which mandated the creation of the website, on August 30, 2007.

Studies and reports

State Budget Solutions education study

See also: State spending on education v. academic performance (2012)

State Budget Solutions examined national trends in education from 2009 to 2011, including state-by-state analysis of education spending, graduation rates and average ACT scores. The study showed that the states that spent the most did not have the highest average ACT test scores, nor did they have the highest average graduation rates. A summary of the study is available here. The full report can be accessed here.

See also

• Public education in South Carolina
• South Carolina
• Education Policy in the U.S.