Valerie Nava

1 month ago | postandcourier.com | Valerie Nava |Ian Grenier |Anna Mitchell

Anna B. Mitchell is a Greenville-based investigative reporter for the Post and Courier's Education Lab team. A licensed English and social studies teacher, Anna covers education in the Upstate and collaborates with other reporters for coverage on statewide education trends. She studied history at the University of North Carolina, journalism at the University of Missouri, and holds an MBA from the University of Applied Sciences in Würzburg.

2 months ago | postandcourier.com | Anna Mitchell |Valerie Nava |Ian Grenier

GREENVILLE — School officials across South Carolina are counting their district's federal dollars and wondering what, if anything, might happen to that funding should the Trump administration succeed in its plan to shut down the U.S. Department of Education. President Donald Trump has proposed dismantling the agency, but legally cannot do so without Congressional action.

2 months ago | postandcourier.com | Anna Mitchell |Ian Grenier |Valerie Nava

As scores on a national biennial test of math and reading continued a downward slide that started in 2019, South Carolina students held steady, improved or at least declined at a slower rate — placing the Palmetto State at or above the test-score average for fourth graders nationally and just below the average for eighth graders. Results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly known as the Nation's Report Card, were released early Jan. 29.

Jan 15, 2025 | postandcourier.com | Valerie Nava

The Charleston County School District's entry-level teachers soon could be making close to $65,000 per year. At a Jan. 13 board meeting, Superintendent Anita Huggins said the district anticipates raising entry-level teacher salaries to $64,782 in fiscal 2026 without introducing a tax increase. The raise would apply to incoming teachers and those who have been in the district for less than five years.

Jan 14, 2025 | postandcourier.com | Valerie Nava

A new classical charter school in Charleston, poised to open for the 2025-26 academic year, has garnered attention from community members for its classical model and its ties to Hillsdale College — a conservative Christian higher education institution — and to members of a local Moms for Liberty chapter. Ashley River Classical Academy will be tuition free and teach a classical liberal arts curriculum to students in grades K-5.