Next week dozens of teachers could be absent for school. They’ll be in Columbia speaking with lawmakers hoping to spark some change in legislation being considered. And the teachers hope to do it quickly.

Speaker of the House Jay Lucas declared 2019 as the year for education reform. Members of the House worked quickly to pass a massive education bill filed by the speaker that seemed to address all things education.

But hundreds of teachers and several lawmakers are saying not so fast.

Senator Mike Fanning has been working with senators to hold public hearings across the state to hear from teachers. He says the bill passed by the House fails to address those concerns.

“The massive ed reform bill was made with no teachers at the table,” said Senator Fanning from Fairfield.

SCforED is also concerned about the bill and some of the proposals being considered. SCforED started as a Facebook group last May for teachers to network across the state while expressing concerns, offering solutions, and speaking with lawmakers.

Nicole Walker is one of the board members of the group. Walker is also a teacher in the Midlands.

“We felt like we have made a good faith effort to be really transparent and I think it’s fair to say they have not necessarily heard us.”

Many teachers say the legislation being considered does not reflect the needs of educators or problems in the classrooms. Lawmakers have made salary a top priority, but teachers say there are other priorities in the classrooms.

Walker continued, “Majority of our members have said their main concern is their kids and having the best classroom experience possible in terms of class size but also available material.”

And to make sure that concern is made clear for lawmakers hundreds of teachers are planning to skip school. SCforED calls the day “All Out.”

“We don’t want it to negatively impact our kids. We don’t want them to be lost for a day. We want long term success for them. And so every one of us is going to have to decide what that means to them,” explained Walker, who is taking a personal day to attend the call for action at the State House.

Senator Mike Fanning says the move for a day at the State House is “needed.” “It’s about time teachers demand that their voices be heard. Teachers using their teacher voices saying enough is enough.”

That day of action is scheduled for May 1.

May 9 is the official last day of the 2019 legislative session and the last chance for lawmakers to get blls passed in both bodies of the house and sent to the governor’s desk.

So far no bills related to reforming education at the k-12 level have passed.