School choice separates education candidates

The race for state superintendent of education could hinge on one crucial issue: school choice.

Republican candidate Karen Floyd and Democratic nominee Jim Rex agree that dramatic steps are needed to pull up the state's sagging SAT scores and graduation rate, and to improve discipline. But they part company when it comes to choice.

Choice -- more specifically, giving vouchers or tax credits to parents to send their children to private schools -- prompted bitter battles in the state Legislature the past two years. The House killed the plan without debate in 2005, and voted down a modified version this year.

But voucher supporters inside and outside South Carolina are pouring money into campaigns, so it's guaranteed to be back in some form when the General Assembly returns in January.

Rex and Floyd are the two major party candidates in the superintendent's race. Tony Fayyazi (Independence Party), Arnold Karr (Green), Ralph Lindblad (Constitution) and Tim Moultrie (Libertarian) also are vying for the office, but are not expected to factor into the decision.

Rex charges headfirst into the issue, saying he supports choice in the public school framework -- creating charter schools, for example. But he draws the line at giving taxpayer money to parents to send their children to private schools.

Rex, a former public school teacher, coach and college administrator, said that he opposes a voucher plan because it would be unaffordable and unaccountable to the taxpayers.

"I do wish the pro-voucher advocates would get pressed on how they are going to pay for it," Rex said. "The assumption is that somehow the taxpayers can afford to support two systems -- a private system through tax incentives or direct vouchers, and then simultaneously the public system which is already in some cases underfunded and undersupported."

Rex said he questions why voucher advocates wouldn't be satisfied with public charter schools. He said such schools would give them the choices and competition that they desire, and that the schools would be fully accessible and accountable.

"If you dig a little bit there in terms of why that's not good enough, I think you'll find out a lot of things about isolation, segregation and a lot of other things that public charter schools do not allow for."

Floyd, a Spartanburg businesswoman, also is straightforward in her support of choice in the public system. She says there is a variety of alternatives to consider.

"There are different ways, particularly in the 21st century with the global economy, to educate our children -- virtual schools, re-engineering high schools, applied skill learning," she said. "There are so many different options that need to be explored, and we don't need to be afraid of them."

When it comes to vouchers and tax credits, however, Floyd says she does not support giving public dollars to private schools. Instead, she says she favors giving the money back to the parents and allowing them to choose the best school for their children -- be it public or private.

Rex said that Floyd is trying to mislead voters. Giving public money to private schools is giving public money to private schools, whether or not you use parents as the middleman.

"A half truth is still a whole lie," Rex said. "You shouldn't have to read between the lines when you have a political candidate. I think that's almost the first level of responsibility for a political candidate, to make it as clear as you can where you stand on an issue."

Hogan Gidley, Floyd's campaign spokesman, said that Floyd's position is clear. He said that Rex simply wants to limit parents' choices.

"It's unfortunate that some political candidates like Jim Rex are so wedded to defending the education status quo that they would deny parents educational options for their children," Gidley said.

The choice issue came to the forefront during the 2005 legislative session, when Gov. Mark Sanford began pushing his "Put Parents in Charge" plan. That bill was a tax-credit-only version that the state's Board of Economic Advisors estimated would cost about $500 million, and it died a quiet death on the House floor.

The House also rejected a scaled down version this year. It would have given a $4,500 voucher or $1,000 tax credit to parents of children attending schools rated below average or unsatisfactory on their annual Education Accountability Act report card to allow them to transfer to a private school.

Floyd said she would have supported the second version.

Still, her "no public money to private schools" stance has been a topic of discussion among political observers in the past week.

Will Folks, a former spokesman for Sanford and now president and CEO of political consulting firm Viewpolitik and a voucher supporter, wrote on his Web log (faithinthesound.blogspot.com) that Floyd's remarks left many "wondering whether she is running to the center in an effort to avoid heat on the issue." At the other end of the spectrum, Laurin Manning (www.laurinmanning.com) accused Floyd of waffling and wrote that "If I were a rabid school-choicer, I would be demanding answers."

The answer is that Floyd hasn't wavered. In a position paper posted on her Web site in December, Floyd wrote that she supports giving money back to parents and letting them choose a public or private school.

"Her position has not changed," Gidley said. "She strongly supports school choice and believes that all parents should be given the opportunity to select the school that best fits the needs of their children."

But Folks said that Floyd hasn't emphasized choice in the general election the way she did in the primary. He chalked up the difference to campaign strategy.

"When I was in the governor's office, we obviously emphasized certain things when it was convenient and de-emphasized others," Folks said. "At the end of the day, it's all spin."

Denver Merrill, spokesman for the pro-voucher group South Carolinians for Responsible Government, said he doesn't believe Floyd has backtracked at all.

"As far as we're concerned, she's saying all the right things," Merrill said.

Robert W. Dalton can be reached at 562-7274 or bob.dalton@shj.com.