COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina senators will likely consider whether to restore the annual raises most teachers get each year to the state budget when they return to Columbia next week for a special session amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Senate Finance Committee is working on a proposal to spend $40 million out of about $775 million saved up over the past two years on what are called step increases.
Those are pay raises of usually about several hundred dollars a year given to teachers as they gain experience.
Lawmakers suspended the raises in the spring because of the uncertainty of what the COVID-19 pandemic might do to the economy.
