Gov. Mark Sanford unveiled a plan Wednesday that would strip state government of much of its control over how tax money is spent on public education.

The governor wants that responsibility handed over to South Carolina's 85 school districts. But his proposal offers no infusion of additional funds for education.

Delivering on a campaign pledge, Sanford proposed an overhaul of a state budgeting formula that would consolidate 86 classifications of education programs into six categories.

Should Sanford's proposal become law, local school boards would have wide latitude in deciding how to allocate their respective shares of state aid. A school board, for example, could shift money historically earmarked for gifted and talented classes to remedial instruction.

"It's another tool in the quiver for all who care about education," Sanford said as 10 House members flanked him during a State House news conference.

Two, Rep. Roland Smith, R-Aiken, and Wallace Scarborough, R-Charleston, noted 58 colleagues had signed on as co-sponsors, including a half-dozen Democrats. They anticipate more will be added before the bill is formally introduced today.

Sanford characterized his idea as reforming "the way we fund education in South Carolina."

"When you look at the budget crisis we're currently facing, I believe it's absolutely essential," Sanford said. "This bill does two critical things. First, it gets more education dollars flowing to the front line of the battlefield -- which we've said all along is the teacher's classroom. Second, it lets local school districts use that money where it's needed most once it gets there."

Elizabeth Gressette, director of the Palmetto State Teachers' Association, said her organization supports Sanford's proposal to shift "more local control" over money to school boards. She noted, however, "it's still the same size (funding) pie. It's a tart, really."

A recent state Education Department survey of 60 school districts found they're dealing with a budget crisis by eliminating 1,500 teaching jobs and another 250 administrative positions.

The proposed law means parents and taxpayers in theory will have to assume greater responsibility in holding locally elected school boards accountable over the way they spend the state's money.

Rep. Bob Walker, R-Spartanburg, acknowledged "there is some concern about how do you track the money. The community will want to know what you're doing with the money and why you decide to spend it this way or that (way)."

Walker, chairman of the House's K-12 education subcommittee, sees Sanford's proposal putting a halt to the Legislature "micro-managing the use of (education) funds."

"Each school needs to have the flexibility of 'What's best for me and my school district'," said Walker, a former school board member in Spartanburg 1.

Walker and House colleagues will be scrambling to push Sanford's idea through the necessary approval votes before May 1, when rules make it difficult to pass laws languishing on the legislative calendar.

Scott Price, the S.C. School Boards Association lobbyist, said, "flexibility is something that will be received favorably. But it does not put new money in the education system."