The South Carolina Education Association (The SCEA) is a public education advocacy organization[1][2] in the U.S. state of South Carolina, representing both teachers and educational support professionals.[3]
The South Carolina Education Association | |
 | |
| Founded | 1881 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 2999 Sunset Blvd., Suite 200, West Columbia, SC 29169 |
| Location | |
President | Sherry East |
Vice-President | Dena Crews |
Executive Director | Todd Jaeck |
| Affiliations | National Education Association (NEA) |
| Website | https://www.thescea.org |
Organization and functions
editIt has local affiliates in each of the state's 81 public school districts.[4] As the state affiliate of the National Education Association--the largest labor union in the United States[5]-- The SCEA is the only union for educators and public school employees in South Carolina.
The SCEA regularly comments on state-level educational issues and performs advocacy work.[6][7] Members of The SCEA participated in the #REDforEd teacher activities. The organization stressed that events in South Carolina were not officially sanctioned and that it was not an organizer[8] but it did offer to support its members that did participate[9]
History
editThe SCEA was founded in 1881 as a teachers' advocacy organization. However, at that time membership was limited only to White educators. On April 1, 1967, the SCEA merged with the Palmetto Education Association, a parallel association of Black educators founded in 1896.[3] The merger[10] of these two educational organizations was the largest combination of racially segregated associations in the history of the state of South Carolina. Membership in The SCEA rose to nearly 25,000 black and white educators immediately after the merger.[3][dead link]
The SCEA was an important contributor to the development of the South Carolina Education Improvement Act (EIA) of 1984,[11] where it participated in direct negotiations with Governor Richard Riley. As a compromise for accepting a merit pay structure, it negotiated a 16% pay increase for educators in the state, bringing their salaries near or above the industry average for the Southeastern United States.[12] This legislation was considered to be the most comprehensive state-level educational reform in the United States to date.[13]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "South Carolina Education Agencies and Organizations".
- ^ "Ballotpedia: South Carolina Education Association".
- ^ a b c "About US". The SCEA.
- ^ "Local Chapter Affiliates". The SCEA.
- ^ "National Education Association". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
- ^ "Press Releases". The SCEA.
- ^ "Florence One Schools, South Carolina Education Association bring literacy boxes to five Florence parks". SCNow.
- ^ Bowers, Paul. "South Carolina teachers flex their activist muscles after decades of labor losses". Post and Courier.
- ^ "May 1 teacher walkout could spark change and repercussions | Carolina News and Reporter". 26 April 2019.
- ^ Gilmore, Al-Tony (April 2017). A More Perfect Union: The Merger of the South Carolina Education Association & the Palmetto Education Association. ISBN 9781547068869.
- ^ "Education Improvement Act".
- ^ "The best governor in America - and you've never heard of him. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com.
- ^ Kirk, L. Roger (1985). "The South Carolina Educational Improvement Act of 1984". Journal of Education Finance. 11 (1): 132–145. JSTOR 40703483 – via JSTOR.