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Local solons question governor's budget, plans for state's public schools

Four state legislators stood up for public education at the third meeting of Community Leaders Advocating for Schools, held Monday at the STAR Center for Learning.

Dr. Sandra Tonnsen, superintendent of Orangeburg Consolidated School District 4, said she formed CLAS to develop and maintain two-way communications between the public and the schools.

Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said, "We all want to put parents in charge." But he called the legislative proposal with that name a "private school voucher plan" that is "bad for South Carolina and bad for our children."

"It is not right to require the citizens to fund a second school system," Hutto said.

The senator said Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican who supports the proposal, is giving up on public schools.

He said Sanford is emblematic of a group of people who have a fundamental, philosophical distrust of government and want to radically change or dismantle it. Hutto said that is "fundamentally different from my way of thinking."

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, mainly discussed the education funding equity lawsuit filed by a number of school districts against the state Legislature.

Testimony — including hers — has concluded, and Circuit Judge Thomas Cooper is working on his ruling. Both sides have said that if they lose, they will appeal his ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Cobb-Hunter said the Legislature should be preparing to comply with a ruling in favor of the school districts; however, so far, her colleagues have largely ignored her suggestion to at least form a study committee.

Spending taxpayers' dollars to appeal a decision against the state would be a waste of money, Cobb-Hunter said, adding that in the Legislature, "logic is not necessarily the order of the day."

During the question period, a school district employee spoke in favor of continuing the TERI program, which lets state employees who qualify for retirement keep working for a couple of years and receive a portion of their pension benefits as well as their salaries.

Cobb-Hunter said the program began as a short-term incentive to alleviate a teacher shortage by keeping experienced teachers a little longer. Then it was expanded to more and more people.

"The program has become too expensive," she said. "We can't afford it."

Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, said the proposed charter school bill removes local school trustee boards from the decision-making process.

Charter schools receive public funding but are allowed to operate by and large independently. If the proposed changes become law, "even private schools can apply for a charter," Govan said.

Govan said the country cannot afford to return to the time, 150 years ago, when only the privileged could afford an education.

"People are playing politics with our children's education," and the impact will be felt for many years to come, Govan said.

Rep. Harry Ott, D-St. Matthews, insisted that "we're not fighting against income tax relief." But he opposes the governor's plan.

"It's a wonderful plan if you're in the upper 10 percent" tax bracket, "but it's bad for the average South Carolinian," Ott said.

"This governor is out of touch with average South Carolinians and in touch with his multimillionaire friends," he said.

The governor's plan would reduce state revenue by $1 billion at a time when the state is reneging on its commitment to fully reimburse school districts for the money they lost due to a property tax relief measure, Ott said.

Ott said a state income tax reduction would force school districts to raise property taxes. "They're going to tax you out of your house," he said.

(Ott's comments on Monday came two days before the House passed the plan and sent it to the Senate.)

A lot of the talk in Columbia has focused on the state's per-pupil allocation to the local school districts.

The governor's budget proposal raises the amount by shifting money that had formerly been allocated separately. It's "silly," Ott said. "Don't let (Sanford) get away with it."

Who is really behind the push for Put Parents in Charge and charter schools, and why? "Follow the dollars, and you'll find out who's got a vested interest," Ott said.

The dollars are coming from out of state, Ott said. There are people waiting in line to profit financially from charter schools, he said.

Those who believe in public education cannot afford to sit back and relax at this crucial time, Ott said: "You need to put your hat and boots on and go to work."