South Carolina could be first state to ban ‘grade-floor’ policies for public-school students 

Should public schools give K-12 students a minimum grade regardless of their actual work – or lack thereof?

Absolutely not, argues Bryce Fielder, director of the Carolinas Academic Leadership Network (CALN).

“Minimum grade policies cause real-world harm by disincentivizing students from giving their full effort and creating a false picture of their academic performance,” Fiedler said in a statement quoted by the local ABC affiliate.

As a result, CALN has celebrated South Carolina’s recent approval of legislation to prohibit teachers from assigning “a minimum grade or score that exceeds the student’s actual performance on required assignments.”

“This bold decision keeps grades honest and accountable,” Fiedler concluded.

Such procedures are often called “grade-floor” policies, according to journalists. By approving this bill, South Carolina could be the first state to ban minimum grades if Gov. Henry McMaster signs it.

Avoiding ‘the message that effort doesn’t matter’

In 2025, the Palmetto Promise Institute (PPI) released a report finding at least 18 state districts had used or reported using grade floors to evaluate classwork.

“The Grade Floor is a policy where students cannot receive a grade lower than an agreed-upon number (most commonly 50 or 60),” the organization explained. “The floor can apply on a per-assignment basis or for a course as a whole.”

While schools tended toward the viewpoint that grade floors “encourage students to complete their work and not to feel discouraged by receiving a grade of 0,” PPI argues it ultimately hurts schoolchildren by setting false expectations.

“However well-intentioned, the true impact of grade floors is to send the message that effort doesn’t matter,” the organization wrote.

As previously reported by The Lion, the majority of educators agree with PPI’s viewpoint opposing grade floors in a 2025 survey of almost 1,000 K-12 teachers.

“Equity grading is not leveling the playing field,” said one educator in the survey. “It is simply lowering standards so that school districts look like they are meeting kids where they are, when in fact they are hiding their failures behind ‘equitable’ policies.”

One example of equity grading included giving partial credit even when assignments had not been submitted, which 81% of teachers opposed.

“Grade inflation is pervasive,” another educator argued. “It’s almost impossible to fail. A’s are passed out like Halloween candy. Whether a student learned anything is nearly irrelevant.”