Back-to-school time is nearing, and as students and parents stock up on supplies and squeeze in that last bit of summer fun, South Carolina's school districts are facing one of the biggest assignments they have ever been given.  They have a potentially game-changing opportunity: Local school boards have received a total of $3 billion in federal COVID-19 relief money to help students catch up. The question now is how to spend it.And that’s not an easy question to answer. Learning loss from the pandemic is different in every district, because every district approached the pandemic a little differently.  This week, assistant Columbia bureau chief Seanna Adcox and education reporter Libby Stanford explained what we know about how districts are planning to spend this funding and what’s still unclear. They also broke down what's next as they continue to report on how districts spend their money and whether they're able to follow through on their promises and goals. This money could be transformative for South Carolina's school system. But that depends on what’s done with it.Want more coverage?For more of our reporting on federal COVID-19 funding and how it's being used in South Carolina schools, check out the new Promises series. To read more about how South Carolina schools were doing pre-pandemic, go back and read our Minimally Adequate series from 2019. 

Understand SC

The $3 billion question facing SC schools

South Carolina is about a year out from the primary for its next governor’s race and 16 months from the general election, but the contest has already generated a lot of conversation.Democratic Party chairman Trav Robertson even said he predicts it will be “one of the most exciting gubernatorial primaries that the state of South Carolina has ever seen.” So far, the Democratic contenders who have announced bids are former South Carolina Congressman Joe Cunningham and State Senator Mia McLeod.Whoever wins that primary, though, will face a tough race against Republican Gov. Henry McMaster. The last time South Carolinians voted to put a Democrat in the Governor’s mansion was in 1998.This week, reporters Thomas Novelly and Jamie Lovegrove break down what we know about the major players in this race so far, how fundraising has stacked up in the early days of this race and what strategies these candidates may use to vie for votes. Listen now for more.

An early look at SC's 2022 race for governor

In South Carolina, judges can face allegations of misconduct, conflicts of interest or criminal activity in secret. The Disciplinary Counsel’s office, an investigative arm of the state Supreme Court, receives more than 200 complaints against the state’s judges each year, but rarely do the office's investigations lead to the removal of judges or even to public reprimands. As we’ve discussed on our episodes about The Post and Courier’s ongoing Uncovered series, South Carolina's systems for holding public servants accountable often lack transparency. But there are few systems as cloaked in secrecy as the state's method for overseeing judges.On this week's episode, reporters Joey Cranney and Avery Wilks explain how South Carolina judges have been able to remain on the bench for years, despite serious questions about their character and impartiality.Listen now for more.For more related coverage, visit our Uncovered homepage.

SC's secretive process for disciplining judges

It’s been more than three weeks since two members of the prominent  South Carolina Murdaugh family were shot dead at their hunting lodge along the border of Colleton and Hampton counties.But, despite the amount of time that has gone by and the high-profile nature of their deaths, which are being investigated as murders, police have offered few details about the case.With little official information available, the rumor mill has churned as interest in this case has grown, in South Carolina and beyond. This week, reporter Thad Moore and editor Glenn Smith, both members of our watchdog team of investigative journalists, broke down the few details that have been released about the investigation and explain why this case has garnered so much attention. Listen now for more.Visit our episode webpage for more of The Post and Courier's coverage of this case. 

Lack of details about Murdaugh homicides leaves questions, rumors

Corruption is common,  but why does it happen? Since 2018, more than 1,100 public servants in South Carolina have clearly crossed ethical lines, the Post and Courier found. The latest installment of our ongoing "Uncovered" series about unreported corruption investigates those ethical breaches and looks at why public officials often face little or no consequences when they're caught doing the wrong thing. From a teacher who pawned a student's saxophone to a Department of Transportation foreman accepting kickbacks, projects reporter Tony Bartelme explains the "gray zone" created by the lack of consequences when public officials cross the line. He also explores what leads public officials to commit fraud and a simple tactic that can deter future misconduct. Listen now for more.Understand SC is a weekly podcast from The Post and Courier that draws from the reporting resources and knowledge of our newsroom to help you better understand South Carolina. This episode was hosted by Emily Williams and edited by Emily Williams and Matt Rasnic.For more coverage, visit our Uncovered homepage. Listen to past Understand SC episodes about corruption in South Carolina:Uncovering corruption in South Carolina Public servants at SC fire district served themselves

In SC, public officials cross ethical lines with little consequences

Last week, The Post and Courier was named a finalist in the local reporting category of the Pulitzer Prizes for Rising Waters, our ongoing series about flooding, sea level rise and the accelerating effects of climate change in the Lowcountry. The weekend after that announcement, Charleston got a lot of rain. It was a familiar scene: People wading through knee-deep floodwaters in city streets, cars submerged and stalled and roads closed.It was more evidence of why flooding continues to be a pressing issue for Charleston — and why the city is considering doing something as big as changing its zoning map to take flooding and sea-level rise into account.This week on the podcast, we checked back in with projects reporter Tony Bartelme on the status of the Rising Waters project, and city of Charleston reporter Andrew Brown explained how and why local leaders are considering sweeping changes to zoning rules that would discourage development in low-lying areas and encourage dense development in less flood-prone parts of the city. Listen now for more.For more, visit our Rising Waters homepage. Listen to our past Rising Waters-related episodes:Lessons from a year reporting on sea rise and flooding in CharlestonExplaining Charleston's plan for a sea wallRising Waters

Charleston could change zoning to account for flooding, sea rise

South Carolina's largest university is again on the search for a new leader.After then-University of South Carolina President Bob Caslen lifted lines of a speech without attributing them, the retired three-star general resigned, marking the end of his two-year tenure.Caslen admitted to lifting lines for his commencement comments without giving credit. He was also criticized for mistakenly referring to new graduates as alumni of the "University of California."Caslen's hiring — not just his departure — was controversial.Now, with a new presidential search ahead for the university, some critics are calling for more transparency and for more diverse candidates and search committee members this time around. In the meantime, former USC President Harris Pastides has been tapped to temporarily take the helm again. This week, Columbia-based reporter Jessica Holdman and managing editor Andy Shain break down what led to Caslen's resignation, what was learned from the last presidential search process and what's next for the university.Listen now for more.For more coverage from Columbia, visit the Post and Courier Columbia homepage.Understand SC is a weekly podcast from The Post and Courier that draws from the reporting resources and knowledge of our newsroom to help you better understand South Carolina. This episode was hosted by Emily Williams and produced and edited by Matt Rasnic and Emily Williams.

Search for USC's next president begins after plagiarism scandal

The question is one that propelled a lengthy reporting process and led a pair of journalists from South Carolina across the Atlantic Ocean to Senegal: Who was Omar ibn Said, really?When two Post and Courier journalists started pursuing that question, they knew Omar was a Muslim scholar who, at age 37, was captured from his home in Futa Toro and forced onto a slave ship bound for Charleston. Omar had lived the rest of his life enslaved, first in South Carolina and then North Carolina.Throughout that time, Omar wrote at least 15 surviving texts in Arabic, including the only known surviving autobiography written in Arabic by someone still enslaved in America.When that autobiography was bought by the Library of Congress, digitized and made available to the public, Omar’s story sprang from obscurity.While Omar's writing gave insight into his life, his past and his faith, it also raised questions. He provided little detail about where he was from. That mystery of what place Omar had called home became key to The Post and Courier's Pulitzer Center-supported project.This week, the journalists behind that project, writer Jennifer Berry Hawes and photographer Gavin McIntyre, share details from their reporting process, the challenges they ran into along the way and what their days in Senegal taught them about who Omar really was.While some of the questions they sought out to answer didn't have a definitive resolution, their quest — with the help of translators, imams, historians and others — uncovered new revelations about Omar's life. Listen now for more.Read the project: 'I Am Omar': A quest for the true identity of Omar ibn Said, a Muslim man enslaved in the CarolinasUnderstand SC is a weekly podcast from The Post and Courier that draws from the reporting resources and knowledge of our newsroom to help you better understand South Carolina. This episode was hosted and edited by Emily Williams.  Background audio used in today's episode is by Gavin McIntyre. Music is "When the Ash Settles" by The Westerlies. 

'I Am Omar': How the Post and Courier searched for Omar ibn Said's true identity

This month, South Carolina’s regular legislative session came to a close. This latest lawmaking period followed an election that strengthened GOP majorities in both the House and the Senate, and it showed. The session started with a law banning most abortions and ended with passage of bills expanding gun rights and resuming the death penalty.The session's theme, for either side of the political aisle, is that "elections have consequences," said political reporter Jamie Lovegrove. This week on the podcast, he, along with assistant Columbia bureau chief Seanna Adcox and Post and Courier Columbia reporter Adam Benson explained what state lawmakers did — and didn't — do during the regular session and what that means for South Carolinians. We're following up on several topics that have been featured on Understand SC this year, like the "heartbeat bill," hate crimes legislation and the effort to select a standardized state flag design.And you'll hear issues that haven't been discussed on the show yet, like a recently-passed open carry gun law and why legislators passed a law making electrocution the default method of execution in South Carolina.Whether you've been diligently following Statehouse developments or need to catch up, we have all the information you need to get up to speed on the 2021 session.Listen now for more.Get caught up on past related episodes of Understand SC:SC is one of 3 states without a hate crimes law. That could change soon.SC poised to pass 'heartbeat bill' banning most abortionsThe South Carolina flag design that everyone hated

From guns to abortion to hate crimes, what SC legislators did and didn't do this session

It’s taken months for details about Jamal Sutherland’s death to be released.Only in the last couple of weeks has there been a better understanding of what happened on Jan. 5 at the Al Cannon Detention Center in North Charleston. Late last Thursday, the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office released videos of two deputies using pepper spray, stun guns and other force against Sutherland, a Black mental health patient. Those videos have raised serious questions about how people with mental illnesses are treated by police.Activists are calling for sweeping, long-term changes. They've also called for the two detention deputies involved in Sutherland's death to be fired and criminally charged. Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano, who was sworn into office the day before Sutherland's death in the county jail, announced earlier this week that the deputies had been fired, but it's still unknown whether or not they will be charged. And that's just one of my unanswered questions that remain in this case, as public safety reporter Gregory Yee explains. This week, we break down some of the key facts that we know, the questions that still have not been answered and how local activists are demanding justice. Listen now for more.For more coverage of this story, check the "Related Reading" section of the episode webpage.

'Justice for Jamal': Videos of death in SC county jail prompt outcry for change

Just over 1 in 3 South Carolinians have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Almost 44 percent have received at least one shot. That’s good news, but health experts have been concerned about slowing demand for the vaccine. Earlier this year, it was difficult to get a vaccine appointment. Demand far outpaced supply. Now, that’s switched. South Carolina could be vaccinating many more people a day than it is right now. Citing the availability of COVID vaccines, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order this week that sought to cut down on government-mandated rules about wearing face masks, one of the primary strategies during the pandemic for mitigating the virus's spread.That order put the decision of whether students will continue to wear masks in schools in the hands of parents. It also dissolved mandates in local municipalities if those ordinances were based on prior executive orders or a state of emergency. This week, assistant Columbia bureau chief Seanna Adcox explained recent changes to mask rules in South Carolina, and health reporter Mary Katherine Wildeman shared some insight on the progress made with COVID vaccinations in the state so far — and where the process is lagging. Listen now for more.For The Post and Courier's latest coronavirus coverage, visit our COVID-19 dashboard. Understand SC is a weekly podcast from The Post and Courier that draws from the reporting resources and knowledge of our newsroom to help you better understand South Carolina. This episode was hosted and edited by Emily Williams .

Mask mandates ending in SC as uptake of COVID vaccine slows

The debate over what to do with South Carolina's embattled state-owned utility Santee Cooper has dragged on for years. Lawmakers knew they had to do something with it — whether that be sell the utility, reform it or turn over its management — after it lost more than $4 billion in the failed expansion of the V.C. Summer nuclear power plant, which is widely considered to be the biggest business failure in the state's history.That project fell apart in July 2017, and a path forward for Santee Cooper just became clearer in the last week. NextEra Energy, the firm that had been lobbying to buy it, withdrew its bid, making it likely the utility will stay under state ownership, at least for now.This week on the podcast, reporters Andrew Brown and Avery Wilks, who have been following this story for years, explain the arguments that have been at play this debate, what the stakes have been and what's next now that the bid from NextEra is off the table and lawmakers are working to pass reforms.Listen now for more.Understand SC is a weekly podcast from The Post and Courier that draws from the reporting resources and knowledge of our newsroom to help you better understand South Carolina. This episode was hosted by Emily Williams, produced by Emily Williams and Matt Rasnic and edited by Emily Williams. 

South Carolina's Santee Cooper saga, explained

As the Lowcountry region has grown, so has its issues with traffic and the strain on its roadways. One of the solutions proposed to ease that strain is a high-capacity mass transit system, something that doesn't exist yet in the state. That system is in the works for the Charleston area, and it has been for years. It’s called Lowcountry Rapid Transit, and this week residents got the closest look yet at how it will actually work.It’s a bus rapid transit system — listen for more on what that means — and it will stretch 21.5 miles, starting at the fairgrounds in Ladson, running through North Charleston on Rivers Avenue, extending downtown onto the peninsula and ending in the WestEdge area.The coalition of county governments behind the transit project, the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Chamber of Governments, just launched a virtual public meeting with new details and visuals.On today's podcast, project  lead Sharon Hollis breaks down the basics of Lowcountry Rapid Transit, including the reasoning by the route, its stops and when it's expected to be operational. And reporter Rickey Dennis, who writes about the city of North Charleston, explains why the project's potential effects on housing affordability is a primary concern for community members and planners. Listen now for more.The Lowcountry Rapid Transit virtual meeting is self-guided and available at lowcountryrapidtransit.com. Public comments can be submitted on the site through May 26. 

Bringing SC's first mass transit system to the Lowcountry

Chief Harold "Buster" Hatcher of the Waccamaw Indian People has been fighting for his tribe to be justly acknowledged.That effort started about 30 years ago, and it’s far from over. His tribe is one of nine that are recognized by the state of South Carolina. What Hatcher is still working for, though, is federal recognition, which comes with significant benefits. Federally-recognized tribes can be eligible for specific services and protections and have a government-to-government relationship with the United States. But getting that recognition doesn’t come easily, as evidenced by the decades put into the effort for the Waccamaw Indian People of South Carolina. After all these years, there have recently been signs of progress, Chief Hatcher said — progress that could eventually propel them toward that federal recognition. This week on the podcast, reporter Adam Parker breaks down some of the positive developments made this year — like the introduction of a new bill by U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-Myrtle Beach, that would grant the Waccamaw federal recognition — and Chief Hatcher explained why that federal acknowledgement is something worth fighting for.Two Coastal Carolina University professors also joined us to discuss a new exhibit about the Waccamaw Indian People debuting April 27 at the Horry County Museum. Listen now for more.Listen to the latest episode of The Post and Courier's special podcast series "12 Black Leaders to Know."For more information about the Waccamaw Indian People, you can visit their website. The exhibit described in this episode, "Waccamaw Indian People: Past, Present, Future," can be viewed at the Horry County Museum in Conway, S.C. starting April 27. 

Waccamaw Indian People gain support for fight to be federally-recognized tribe

South Carolina is one of three states that doesn’t have a hate crimes law. But earlier this month, a bill that would remove the state from that short list passed easily through the House.There have been attempts to pass this kind of legislation before, but the April 7 vote was a big step: The House had not passed a hate crimes bill before. This time around, the legislation has been boosted by the support of the state's business community which has said that South Carolina's lack of legislation on hate crimes hurts its competitiveness as a pro-business state. This week on the podcast, political reporter Jamie Lovegrove breaks down what this bill would do and its chances of being signed into law this year.Swati Patel of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce also shares why the state's business community has rallied behind the effort to pass the bill and what it plans to do now that the bill will advance to the Senate. And, with just several weeks left in the regular legislative session, assistant Columbia bureau chief Seanna Adcox takes a look at some other hot-topic legislation and those proposals' chances of passing. Listen now for more.For more South Carolina politics news, subscribe to our Palmetto Politics newsletter. To get episodes of this podcast delivered to your inbox every week, sign up for our Understand SC newsletter. 

SC is 1 of 3 states without a hate crimes law. That could change soon.

Understand SC is a weekly podcast from The Post and Courier that explains important issues in our state as well as the context that gives it meaning. Hosts J. Emory Parker and Brooks Brunson use the reporting resources and knowledge of the newspaper to help you better understand our state.

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Understand SC

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