Friday, December 19, 2025
Three Things to Know: December 5th
This week's information compiled by your SC Chamber team includes:
S.C. Sees Less Teacher Vacancies and Departures, S.C. Continues to See Strong Revenue Growth, Wells Fargo Foundation and SCRA Partner to Aid Farmers with $600,000 Investment
1. S.C. Sees Less Teacher Vacancies and Departures
The 2025–26 South Carolina Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report, released by the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement (CERRA), shows a significant decrease in both vacant teaching positions and teacher departures.
First, the report highlights that teacher vacancies are down for the second year in a row. At the start of this school year, districts reported an average of 706 vacant positions, compared to 1,043 at the start of last school year. This is a 32% decrease from last year and a 56% decrease from 2023.
Second, the report shows that teacher departures have declined for the third year in a row. These departures refer to certified educators who did not return to a position in the same school district. Departures are down 5 percent overall from last year. Of those who did leave, 19 percent retired, and 25 percent transferred to another in-state public school district.
The report is funded by the state legislature and includes data from 74 of the 75 South Carolina public school districts.
The decreasing teacher vacancies and departures coupled with the improvements in school report cards are all good signs for the state’s students and educators, highlighting the strides being made in the field. Namely, Governor McMaster’s goal of having all first-year teachers starting with a salary of $50,000. Currently, the statewide average teacher salary is $48,500 which is up 35% since 2020.
2. S.C. Continues to See Strong Revenue Growth
A few weeks ago, the state’s Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) met to review the state’s revenue collections and to issue the first revenue forecast for FY2026-27. Thanks to stronger-than-expected individual income tax and sales tax collections, state revenues are $244 million ahead of May projections.
As a result, the BEA estimated that General Fund revenues will total just over $15 billion for FY2026-27, giving lawmakers an additional $733.9 million in recurring revenue and $1.71 billion in non-recurring revenue to appropriate in this year’s budget process.
Governor Henry McMaster will utilize this estimate for his FY2026-27 Executive Budget, which will be released in early January. All state agencies recently submitted their FY2026-27 budget requests for consideration, which can be found here.
3. Wells Fargo Foundation and SCRA Partner to Aid Farmers with $600,000 Investment
The Wells Fargo Foundation recently announced it is providing $600,000 to the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) to fund the Cultivating Innovation in SC Agribusiness grant program. The announcement was made jointly by South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Hugh Weathers and State Senator Russell Ott.
SCRA, in partnership with the Small Business Development Centers (SCDC) and other key collaborators, will administer the grants. The grants are aimed at aiding small and medium-sized agribusinesses and are up to $30,000. In addition to the innovation grant, the recipients will participate in five targeted webinars—covering innovation strategy, AI tools, market validation, financial planning, intellectual property protection, and scaling—receive personalized consulting from SC SBDC advisors and SCRA, and gain access to the mentorship pool.
South Carolina’s agribusiness sector is crucial to the state’s economy, Wells Fargo Foundation VP of Philanthropy and Community Impact Pam Bryant said, “This investment reflects our ongoing commitment to strengthening rural communities and advancing sustainable economic development through agriculture.”
The application is open now through February 12, 2026, and can be found here.