Felicity Ropp

This morning at the State House, we released the 2026 South Carolina School Report Cards—and the results mark historic progress. The South Carolina Surge is real, and it is accelerating. The number of Excellent schools jumped from 270 to 320. More schools than ever earned an Excellent or Good rating. Nearly half of our elementary schools and more than half of our middle schools earned Good or Excellent ratings. Nearly a quarter of elementary schools improved their overall rating this year. High-poverty schools delivered some of the strongest gains in the state, proving once again that ZIP code does not define destiny. Our on-time graduation rate reached 87.5%—the highest in at least a decade. More than eight in ten high schools earned a Good or Excellent rating for College and Career Readiness, and the gap between earning a diploma and graduating prepared has narrowed to its smallest margin in state history. These Report Card gains build on the strongest SC READY results in the assessment’s history. Statewide, 61.3% of students met or exceeded expectations in English Language Arts (up from 53.5% two years ago), and 47.9% did so in math—our strongest math year on record. Third graders are reading on grade level at higher rates than ever, and middle school students are making especially strong progress. None of this happened by accident. It is the direct result of the hard work of South Carolina students, their dedicated teachers, supportive families, and strong school leadership. At the state level, the General Assembly, Governor @henrymcmaster, and I built a true partnership to provide high support for our schools. This is the work we have done together over the past four years—work I promised to deliver when I first ran for this office. We raised starting teacher salaries by more than $10,000 to $50,500. We secured paid parental leave for teachers. We trained more than 20,000 educators in the Science of Reading, restored phonics-based instruction, and launched the Palmetto Math Project. We delivered South Carolina’s largest-ever school choice program through the Education Scholarship Trust Fund so families can choose the option that best fits their child. We invested over $85 million in school safety—resource officers, infrastructure, and mapping technology. We passed the Free to Focus policy to remove cell phones from classrooms and give students the focus and friendships they deserve. And we cut red tape so teachers can spend more time teaching and less time on paperwork. Hope is not passive. It is an action plan. And these results—higher expectations, stronger support, and rising achievement in every corner of our state—show what is possible when we refuse to accept the status quo. If you believe every South Carolina child is capable, creative, and full of God-given purpose—and that poverty is never an excuse for low expectations—please share this good news with your friends and neighbors. Thank you for standing with our students, our teachers, and our families. Together, the best is yet to come.

Today is a great day for South Carolina students and teachers! Our new Grade Floor law is an important tool to promote high expectations, accountability, and excellence in our schools. This law helps ensure grades reflect real learning, real effort, and real achievement, better preparing students for success in school and life. Our students rise to high expectations when we believe they can and support them on their journey! Thank you to Governor @henrymcmaster, members of the General Assembly, educators, and parents for helping raise the bar for education in South Carolina.