FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 10, 2023

PSTA applauds today’s unanimous vote in the South Carolina House to concur with Senate
amendments to H. 3908, a bill that will make educators in South Carolina eligible for the same paid
parental leave benefits created for state employees in 2022. While the bill still needs to be signed into
law by the Governor, this piece of legislation has now received a unanimous vote of support at every
step of the legislative process. This truly remarkable outcome demonstrates a strong commitment by
the members of the General Assembly to support educators and their families.

This commitment is critically important in light of our state’s persistent and growing educator
shortages. Given the scope of these shortages, the passage of H. 3908 should rightly be viewed as
an important policy action, but it also cannot be allowed to stand as the only policy action to enhance
educator recruitment and retention efforts in our state. More work remains for state and local leaders
to ensure that every classroom in this state is staffed by the highly qualified educator that the
students of South Carolina need and deserve, which is why PSTA looks forward to the coming
release of the report from the Teacher Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement Task Force created
in the current state budget under the leadership of House Speaker Murrell Smith.

But today, PSTA celebrates the passage of this important piece of legislation. PSTA appreciates the
efforts of so many legislators that made the passage of this bill a priority during this legislative
session, particularly Rep. Neal Collins, the primary author of H. 3908, and Senate Majority Leader
Shane Massey, who introduced similar legislation earlier this year in the Senate. PSTA looks forward
to this bill being signed by Governor McMaster in order to give educators in South Carolina an
increased opportunity to care for their own children while continuing to dedicate their time and talents
to the service of the children of our state.