Representative Erickson has proposed an amendment to H.5126, a bill that has already passed the House, that would add a proviso to the state budget creating a study committee. The Department of Education would convene and staff the committee, which would examine how to align three programs: the Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children, the Education Scholarship Trust Fund, and the Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit Scholarship Program. Members would be appointed by the Governor, the Superintendent of Education, legislative leaders and the Department of Revenue director, and would serve without compensation. The committee must submit recommendations on the federal scholarship program by December 1, 2026, or 60 days after federal guidance is published, whichever comes later.
This South Carolina Department of Education page covers applications and the waitlist for the Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) for the 2027-28 school year. The state will notify applicants of its decision within 10 business days of submission. If an ESP application is approved, the applicant will get an email from ClassWallet within 3 business days with instructions for finalizing registration and creating a ClassWallet account. Providers must register and link a bank account to receive payments from families and students. The page also asks how the numbers changed from the 2026-27 application, but the excerpt does not include those figures.
The article text you sent is mostly fragments and doesn't say what the South Carolina budget deal was or how it affects families. I can't summarize that accurately from this excerpt. Here is a draft that sticks to what the fragments do state. You may want the full article before publishing. National Microschooling Center's piece, headlined South Carolina Microschool Families Win in Budget Deal, draws on its research into microschools. The excerpts note that parents choose a microschool for their child for a variety of reasons and cite surveys of parents at 36 microschools around the country. The research reports that 64 percent of microschools surveyed nationally meet on a full-time weekly schedule, and that two-thirds of founders estimated the share of teaching delivered digitally. Federal officials also published new operating rules for the national education scholarship tax credit program. The excerpt does not describe the South Carolina budget deal itself, so readers should consult the full article for details.
State superintendent candidates Democrat Sylvia Wright and Republican Ellen Weaver differ sharply on the Education Scholarship Trust Fund, which gives eligible families roughly $7,600 each this year for K-12 expenses, including private school tuition, through parent-controlled accounts. Weaver, seeking a second term, wants to expand the program beyond its 15,000 slots, while Wright says she would not ask legislators for more and would focus on public schools. Wright points to missing data on student results and to about 1,000 homeschooled students receiving funds, which senators said they did not intend. Weaver says she followed the law as written. Applications open in windows, and federal tax-credit scholarships begin in January.
The Greenville County school board will consider eight homeschool applications at its regular meeting Tuesday night, as homeschool enrollment in the county has grown about 46% over the past five years. According to the district's long-range facilities plan, presented in March, homeschool enrollment rose from 5,798 students in 2021-22 to 8,451 in 2025-26. District leaders expect the trend to continue. They say the decline in public school enrollment is not surprising given the wider range of schooling options, though they still predict overall enrollment will rise. Officials say this will not slow their 10-year plan to improve facilities and schools across the district.
South Carolina nonprofits can start awarding scholarships for private school tuition and other K-12 costs in January 2027 through a new federal program. Donors receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for giving, up to
,700 a year or $3,400 for joint filers, starting Jan. 1. Gov. Henry McMaster opted the state in, and groups apply to the Department of Revenue by email. Families earning up to three times the local median income may qualify. The proposed federal rules still need final approval, and public comments are open until Dec. 1. Because participation is decided one year at a time, the next governor will decide whether the state stays in.
South Carolinians who give to private K-12 scholarship groups could soon cut their federal tax bill dollar for dollar under the new federal Education Freedom Tax Credit, which takes effect in 2027. Gov. Henry McMaster chose to have South Carolina take part on Jan. 13, 2026, and the state is now lining up the scholarship groups that would distribute the money. Under the draft federal rules, an individual may claim up to
,700 a year, or $3,400 for joint filers. Interested organizations can apply to the state Department of Revenue by email. The public can comment on the proposed federal rules through the end of November, and a hearing is set for Dec. 15.
Office of Governor Henry McMaster · Tue, Oct 13, 2026
Governor Henry McMaster has issued Executive Order 2026-23, directing the South Carolina Department of Revenue to help receive applications from scholarship granting organizations that want to take part in the federal tax credit program for Tax Year 2027. The program, authorized by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, gives a federal tax credit for eligible contributions to scholarship granting organizations. Governor McMaster elected to have South Carolina participate on January 13, 2026. Organizations interested in applying can email SGOapplication@dor.sc.gov, and more details are in the U.S. Department of Education's fact sheet on the Education Freedom Tax Credit Program.
State Superintendent Ellen Weaver released the 2026 South Carolina School Report Card at the State House, showing that the number of schools earning an overall rating of excellent rose from 270 to 320, an increase of nearly 19%. Centerville Elementary in Anderson School District 5 moved from below average to excellent overall, and Blackville-Hilda High School improved its graduation rating to excellent. The state's on-time graduation rate reached 87.5%, the highest in a decade, and the share of middle schools earning good or excellent student progress ratings has more than doubled since 2024. Weaver credited a focus on foundational skills such as reading, and the Department of Education plans to work with national experts to close achievement gaps for students with disabilities.
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