The South Carolina Education Association (The SCEA) is a

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

advocacy organization in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, representing both teachers and educational support professionals.

Organization and functions

It has local affiliates in each of the state's 81 public school districts. As the state affiliate of the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college st ...

--the largest labor union in the United States-- The SCEA is the only union for educators and public school employees in South Carolina. The SCEA regularly comments on state-level educational issues and performs advocacy work. Members of The SCEA participated in the #REDforEd teacher activities. The organization stressed that events in South Carolina were not officially sanctioned and that it was not an organizer but it did offer to support its members that did participate

History

The SCEA was founded in 1881 as a teachers' advocacy organization. However, at that time membership was limited only to

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

educators. On April 1, 1967, the SCEA merged with the Palmetto Education Association, a parallel association of

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

educators founded in 1896. The merger of these two educational organizations was the largest combination of

racially segregated Racial segregation is the separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, such as schools and hospitals by people ...

associations in the history of the state of South Carolina. Membership in The SCEA rose to nearly 25,000 black and white educators immediately after the merger. The SCEA was an important contributor to the development of the South Carolina Education Improvement Act (EIA) of 1984, where it participated in direct negotiations with Governor

Richard Riley Richard Wilson Riley (born January 2, 1933) is an American politician who served as the sixth United States secretary of education from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton and as the 111th governor of South Carolina from 1979 to 1987. He ...

. As a compromise for accepting a merit pay structure, it negotiated a 16% pay increase for educators in the state, bringing their salaries near or above the industry average for the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

. This legislation was considered to be the most comprehensive state-level educational reform in the United States to date.

References

{{reflist Trade unions established in 1881 Politics of South Carolina National Education Association Trade unions in South Carolina Organizations based in Columbia, South Carolina 1881 establishments in South Carolina Statewide trade unions in the United States

Organization and functions

History

See also

References