The most important bill to pass since my last update was the requirement that new standards to replace Common Core be implemented in our public schools beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. This absolutely was a victory for our teachers and students, and I am proud to have been so closely involved with this effort.

I have said from the floor of the Senate that South Carolina would do well to let teachers do what they best know how to do, and the elimination of Common Core and the return to state-generated standards, into which South Carolina teachers will have ample input, is best for our schools and our students.

I am very pleased at the passage of this legislation.