Statement on the release of the 2025 PSTA Policy Agenda
November 7, 2024
As South Carolina transitions from election season to the start of the next legislative session, the Palmetto State Teachers Association announced the release of the association’s 2025 F.O.C.U.S. Agenda. PSTA is the largest professional association of educators in the state, and the voice, experience, and insights of PSTA members rest at the heart of the association’s annual policy agenda. This fact makes the PSTA agenda the most comprehensive and trusted K-12 policy document of its type in South Carolina.
Entering 2025, the state of South Carolina stands poised to make transformative improvements in the educational experience of students. Investments and policy actions enacted over the past four years have started to slowly turn the tide in persistently challenging areas like student achievement, school safety, and educator recruitment and retention. As a result, our state stands at an inflection point. We can pursue policies designed to build on recent momentum, but we could just as easily allow ourselves to become distracted by national talking points with little or no connection to the daily experiences of South Carolina students, families, and educators.
To ensure we choose the path leading toward positive change and growth, South Carolina’s elected leaders must keep what students need and deserve squarely in focus in 2025. To achieve that goal, the F.O.C.U.S. Agenda serves as a guide for advancing the well-being and achievement of all South Carolina children through policy actions that can deliver on five conditions necessary for student success:
- Full Staffing
- Optimization of Time and Resources
- Comprehensive Systems of Support
- Uniform Opportunities to Learn
- Safety and Security
PSTA looks forward to working with local and state officials in the coming year on the implementation of the policies outlined in the F.O.C.U.S. Agenda. By keeping policy debates focused on the real needs and opportunities in South Carolina schools, our state can deliver on the promise of creating the learning conditions students need and the working conditions educators deserve.
For questions or comment on the release of the F.O.C.U.S. Agenda, please contact Patrick Kelly, Director of Government Affairs, via email at [email protected] or via call or text at 803-917-9612.
