COLUMBIA — Two of the eight GOP candidates for state superintendent have withdrawn from the race, acknowledging they lack an almost-forgotten qualification for the job.Â
At least three Republicans lack a master's degree required under a 2018 change in state law, though one of them — top fundraiser Ellen Weaver — says she will obtain the advanced degree through an online program before the November election.Â
Charleston County School Board member Cindy Bohn Coats and GOP activist Sheri Few of suburban Columbia both bowed out April 5, the deadline for parties to certify their candidates are qualified to be on the June primary ballots.
Questions about the criteria circulated shortly after the two-week filing period for candidates ended March 30, sending campaigns scrambling.
What happens if voters elect someone who doesn't meet the legal requirement to occupy the office is unclear. The state Election Commission, which lists the qualifications on its website, has no legal opinion on that hypothetical situation yet, spokesman Chris Whitmire said.Â
"That’s something we’d have to do our homework on," he said, adding "the law is the law."Â
Like other candidates, Few said she was unaware of the new criteria when she signed up to run. She reluctantly withdrew, she said, hours after her attorney told her she wouldn't win a court fight.
"I learned late last night that the law is valid and there isn't a good constitutional argument to defend my candidacy," she wrote in an email addressed to her supporters.Â
However, she still disagrees with the law. According to her website, the daughter of a retired Air Force fighter pilot attended college classes while in Germany.Â
"I believe requiring a master’s degree for this office is absolutely an attempt to keep me or other ordinary people like me from this office," said Few, of Lugoff, who has previously run unsuccessfully for superintendent, Congress and the state House.
"A person can run for president, governor, Congress and the S.C. Legislature without any college degree, and these offices have more influence over education policy than the superintendent’s position," she said. "Shame on the S.C. Legislature for passing this law."
Coats confirmed to The Post and Courier last week that she lacked a master's degree, but she was among candidates the state Republican Party certified for the ballot anyway. She withdrew hours later, saying in a two-sentence letter emailed to the Election Commission "I do not wish to be a certified candidate."Â Â
A spokeswoman for the GOP did not return voicemail or text messages April 5.Â
Six of the candidates vying to be the next state schools superintendent attended a forum at the S.C. Public Charter School District in Columbia on March 31, 2022. They are (from left) Ellen Weaver, Cindy Bohn Coats, Rep. Jerry Govan, Kathy Maness, Lynda Leventis-Wells and Kizzi Gibson. Chris Neeley, superintendent of the statewide charter school district, was giving closing remarks at the podium. Seanna Adcox/StaffÂ
At issue is a law signed by Gov. Henry McMaster in May 2018 which, along with a master's degree, requires the state superintendent to have "broad-based experience" in either public education or financial management. It accompanied a separate law that asked voters on the ballot that November whether the governor should appoint the superintendent instead of the post continuing to be filled by popular election. Â
Voters soundly rejected the idea, with 60 percent saying "no" to removing the superintendent from future ballots.
But the qualifications became law for all future superintendent candidates beginning this year, despite the referendum failing.Â
Weaver said last week she recently enrolled in an online program through Utah-based Western Governors University to get a master's degree in leadership before voters go to the polls in seven months. The president of the conservative think tank Palmetto Promise Institute — founded by her previous boss, former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint — holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Bob Jones University in Greenville. Â
"As a Republican, I believe in the rule of law and will be fully qualified to fulfill all of the legal obligations required by the oath of candidacy I took to be ready to serve as superintendent on day one," Weaver said in a statement April 5.Â
She's referring to an oath every candidate signs when they file to run, swearing that they either already meet eligibility requirements in state law or will meet them by Election Day in November.Â
"While we know that letters behind your name are no substitute for bold leadership and common sense, I am excited by this opportunity to show our students what it looks like to be a lifelong learner," Weaver continued. "I plan to lead by example and want them to know that they too can accomplish anything they set their mind to."
GOP candidates reporting they already hold a master's degree are Greenville County School Board member Lynda Leventis-Wells, who holds a master's in guidance and educational psychology; Kathy Maness, director of the Palmetto State Teachers Association and longtime Lexington Town Council member; elementary school teacher Kizzi Gibson, who has a doctoral degree in online learning; and Florence One school board member Bryan Chapman, a pastor who holds master's degrees in divinity and religious education. Â
It remains unclear if Charleston-area businessman Travis Bedson has a master's. He did not return phone and email messages from The Post and Courier over the last week.
"I'm glad I earned my master's from the University of South Carolina in early childhood education, and when I filed for the office of state superintendent I met all of the qualifications outlined on the Election Commission page and S.C. code of laws," Maness said.
The superintendent's race is the most crowded of any statewide office in South Carolina following Molly Spearman's announcement last fall that she wouldn't seek a fourth term.Â
All three Democrats, as well as the Green Party candidate, have at least one advanced degree.Â
