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A29, R47, S78
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Hembree, Young, Zell and Devine
Companion/Similar bill(s): 88
Document Path: SEDU-0002KG25.docx
Introduced in the Senate on January 14, 2025
Introduced in the House on February 25, 2025
Last Amended on April 30, 2025
Currently residing in the Senate
Governor's Action: May 12, 2025, Signed
Summary: Work Experience Credit for Educators
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
| Date | Body | Action Description with journal page number |
|---|---|---|
| 12/11/2024 | Senate | Prefiled |
| 12/11/2024 | Senate | Referred to Committee on Education |
| 1/14/2025 | Senate | Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 62) |
| 1/14/2025 | Senate | Referred to Committee on Education (Senate Journal-page 62) |
| 2/12/2025 | Senate | Committee report: Favorable with amendment Education (Senate Journal-page 5) |
| 2/19/2025 | Senate | Committee Amendment Adopted (Senate Journal-page 19) |
| 2/19/2025 | Senate | Read second time (Senate Journal-page 19) |
| 2/19/2025 | Senate | Roll call Ayes-41 Nays-0 (Senate Journal-page 19) |
| 2/20/2025 | Senate | Read third time and sent to House (Senate Journal-page 15) |
| 2/25/2025 | House | Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 23) |
| 2/25/2025 | House | Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works (House Journal-page 23) |
| 2/25/2025 | Scrivener's error corrected | |
| 4/24/2025 | House | Committee report: Favorable with amendment Education and Public Works (House Journal-page 47) |
| 4/30/2025 | House | Amended (House Journal-page 41) |
| 4/30/2025 | House | Read second time (House Journal-page 41) |
| 4/30/2025 | House | Roll call Yeas-116 Nays-0 (House Journal-page 42) |
| 5/1/2025 | House | Read third time and returned to Senate with amendments (House Journal-page 11) |
| 5/6/2025 | Senate | Concurred in House amendment and enrolled (Senate Journal-page 89) |
| 5/8/2025 | Ratified R 47 | |
| 5/12/2025 | Signed By Governor | |
| 5/19/2025 | Effective date 05/12/25 | |
| 5/19/2025 | Act No. 29 |
View the latest legislative information at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/11/2024
02/12/2025
02/19/2025
04/24/2025
04/30/2025
NOTE: THIS IS A TEMPORARY VERSION. THIS DOCUMENT WILL REMAIN IN THIS VERSION UNTIL FINAL APPROVAL BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
(A29, R47, S78)
AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 59-25-60 SO AS TO PROVIDE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SHALL AWARD YEARS OF EXPERIENCE CREDIT FOR CERTAIN RELEVANT NON-TEACHING OCCUPATIONAL EXPERIENCE TO CERTIFICATES OF EDUCATORS WHO SATISFY CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS, AND TO PROVIDE SUCH EXPERIENCE CREDIT MAY BE AWARDED SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF ADVANCEMENT ON THE TEACHER SALARY SCHEDULE, TO PROVIDE OTHER EXISTING CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS REMAIN UNCHANGED BY THIS ACT; AND TO PROVIDE DIRECTIVES TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS ACT.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Non-teaching occupational experience credit, requirements, eligibility, scope limitations
SECTION 1. Chapter 25, Title 59 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:
Section 59-25-60. (A) When reviewing an application by an individual for an educator certificate, the State Department of Education shall award years of experience on the educator certificate for non-teaching occupational experience in, or related to, the content field of the certificate for which the individual qualifies. One year of experience credit may be awarded for every two years of full-time relevant occupational experience completed by the individual. Years of experience shall be awarded solely for the purpose of advancement on the teacher salary schedule. Except for individuals seeking work-based certification, educator experience credit and relevant occupational experience eligible for educator experience credit must have been earned after the conferral of a bachelor's degree from a college or university meeting State Board of Education accreditation requirements. To be eligible for years of experience on the educator certificate, the individual must complete and submit a verification of relevant occupational experience form developed by the State Department of Education with the application for an educator certificate.
(B) Individuals who entered the teaching profession prior to July 1, 2025, with non-teaching occupational experience in, or related to, the content field of their teaching certificate may complete and submit the verification of relevant occupational experience form to the State Department of Education to have additional years of experience added to their certificate for the purposes of advancing on the teacher salary schedule. If additional years of experience are awarded, the eligible individual is entitled to have his pay adjusted at the beginning of the next school year, from the effective date of the adjustment, to reflect the new experience step on the employing district's salary schedule. However, the individual is not entitled to retroactive pay for the increased years of experience during prior years of teaching or for any purpose other than advancement on the teacher salary schedule.
(C) Nothing in this section alters any existing requirements for receiving an educator certificate. Individuals with the occupational experience identified in subsection (A) must still meet all other existing requirements in order to receive an educator certificate.
(D) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as allowing additional years of experience to be awarded for purposes other than advancement on the teacher salary schedule. Years of experience awarded pursuant to this section for relevant occupational experience are not considered service credit for the purposes of the state retirement or state health plans administered by PEBA.
State Department of Education directive
SECTION 2. The State Department of Education shall not add a full-time equivalent (FTE) position or partial FTE to evaluate and process certification requests as required to implement the provisions of this act.
State Department of Education directive
SECTION 3. The State Department of Education shall develop guidelines for purposes of implementation of this act and make available the non-teaching occupational experience verification form described in this act no later than one hundred-eighty-days after the approval by the Governor.
Time effective
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Ratified the 8th day of May, 2025.
Approved the 12th day of May, 2025.
This web page was last updated on May 19, 2025 at 1:02 PM