Richland 1 has paid a mysterious landscaping company $864,000 this year and at least $2.6 million since 2013, records show. The State dug into the district's relationship with the incompletely licensed and, until recently, unincorporated company. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

Federal officials notified the S.C. Department of Education in November that its monitoring of charter school sponsors was inadequate and pressed state officials to develop new written oversight policies within 90 days. The state has appealed the order. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

“It’s coming for everybody." Chris Trainor🔥 with a look at how still-increasing liquor liability costs are impacting SC bars and restaurants and what likelihood there is that the state Legislature might o something about it. thestate.com/news/local/art…

An award-winning SC charter school principal continued attending school and district functions for months after he was formally accused of sex with a student, social media posts show. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

NEW: The U.S. Department of Education has reversed a Biden administration policy that threatened grant funding to South Carolina charter schools if the state didn't step up its oversight of charter school sponsors. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

Over 15 months, the Charter Institute at Erskine spent nearly $200K on out-of-state travel, or roughly 5x more than SC's other statewide charter school districts. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

The board of two SC charter schools operated by Charter Schools USA alleges its landlord is charging “excessive” rents in breach of the parties' contracts. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

Charter Schools USA, one of the nation’s largest education management firms, claims the Charter Institute at Erskine has abused its position to target private companies it views as competitors for the services it sells to schools. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

An enigmatic landscaping company that Richland 1 school district paid $910K last year risks being held in contempt of court for ignoring subpoenas seeking documents related to its work on the district's abandoned early learning center site. thestate.com/news/local/cri…

After months of trying to trace the spending of a politically-connected Richland County nonprofit that was awarded $800K in federal funds to spearhead an anti-crime initiative, I've only been able to account for how about $100K was spent. thestate.com/news/politics-…

One of South Carolina's statewide charter school authorizers will close at the end of next school year, leaving more than a dozen schools in limbo thestate.com/news/local/edu…

Shortly before closing last month, Limestone University asked students to pay up for summer session. More than 6 weeks later, the students are still waiting for tuition refunds and the university has gone silent. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

An Irmo charter school is paying for its principal's legal defense after she was charged earlier this year with failing to report child abuse. For this story, I looked into the legality of using public funds on an employee's criminal defense. thestate.com/news/local/cri…

NEW: Limestone University owed nearly $400,000 to former students for education they paid for but didn’t receive, according to information provided by the company responsible for managing the shuttered college's assets. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

I took a deeper dive into an enigmatic Columbia landscaping company that Richland 1 school district has paid $2 million since 2021. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

I got ahold of some closely-held expenditure data from South Carolina's school voucher program and analyzed which private schools received the most money last year. thestate.com/news/politics-…

More than 1/3 of the SC students awarded school vouchers last year later withdrew or were removed from the program due to eligibility concerns. Officials declined to disclose how much taxpayer money was spent by ineligible recipients. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

In 2023, police were notified that an SC principal was allegedly buying a former student's silence over their sexual relationship and had been sending money to current students as well. I looked into why the school let the principal continue working. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

One of the highest-paid public school employees in South Carolina makes extra cash consulting for the district responsible for overseeing his school. thestate.com/news/local/edu…

Most SC school voucher applicants already attend private schools. Are the state's neediest public school students being squeezed out of the program? Or is it working as intended? thestate.com/news/politics-…