Pay teachers as professionals and raise teacher salaries to the national average in 5 years.
Our current pay scale rewards time in service, titles, and degrees, not initiative and high-quality teaching that delivers for kids. We must reform our current pay scale to keep great teachers in the classroom and create more flexibility to find new ways to recognize teachers who are making a difference and attract new teachers to the profession.
Develop and support high quality school leaders.
Leadership in education matters. Great principals set the culture and tone for everything that happens in their school, whether coaching teachers for excellence or having their backs to deal with discipline issues. South Carolina must intentionally cultivate, coach, and empower school leaders to be the CEOs of their schools. And in turn, empower teachers to be CEOs of their classrooms.