S.C. Senate committee OKs retroactive teacher raises

COLUMBIA (AP) — A South Carolina Senate committee approved Tuesday a measure to reinstate some teacher raises in this year's budget.
The proposal would restore "step increase" raises for teachers, which amount to several hundred dollars a year given annually as teachers gain experience. Legislators paused the pay bumps last spring due to uncertainty of what the COVID-19 pandemic might do to the economy.
The resolution now heads to the full Senate floor for a vote. House representatives passed a slightly different version of the measure earlier this year.
The resolution would dedicate up to $50 million from the state's contingency reserve fund to restoring the raises for the current school year. Teachers would receive that money from school districts later this year.