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"S" is for 6-0-1 Law

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"S" is for 6-0-1 Law (1924). In his 1925 inaugural address, Governor Thomas McLeod proclaimed the 6-0-1 Law to be “the most progressive step…South Carolina has taken on educational lines since the establishment of the public school system.” In essence the law guaranteed at least a seven-month school term for all white children. Additionally, it shifted the financial responsibility away from local districts, which often lacked resources to the state. The state paid teacher salaries for six months (“6”) provided that local school districts paid for one month (“1”). Counties were encouraged, but not required, to supply additional funding to further expand the school term (“0”). Prior to this act, local districts funded their own schools largely from property taxes. Equalizing educational opportunities for rural white children was the primary objective of the 6-0-1 law.

Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.