Educators say Sanford plan will drain schools

COLUMBIA -- Education officials on Friday criticized Gov. Mark Sanford's budget plan, saying it doesn't do enough to help teachers and schools.

The South Carolina Education Association says Sanford's base student cost is inadequate and his tax-credit proposal will drain public funds from public schools.

Sanford's executive budget, released Thursday, emphasizes cost reductions while increasing overall K-12 education spending by $29.7 million. About $20 million of that would come from lottery funds to increase per-pupil spending by $67 to $1,810.

"Anytime you have a $350 million budget hole and you can still come up with an additional $30 million to put back into K-12, that's a significant accomplishment," Sanford spokesman Will Folks said.

Still, educators say it's not enough to meet the $2,234 per student set by a state formula under the Education Accountability Act.

"Providing even a minimally adequate education for every child costs money, and the Board of Economic Advisors has identified the figure: $2,234 per child," said Jan McCarthy, president of the South Carolina Education Association.

Education officials also criticized a plan to give tax credits to families who choose to send their children to a private school, transfer them to a public school in another district or teach them at home.

The credits offered on property or income taxes would be up to $4,100 per year and apply to any family making less than $75,000 a year.

"By enacting a wide-scale, universal credit, we will provide more options for all students to receive an adequate education and will take a step toward advancing equity funding for education," Sanford wrote in his budget proposal.

In 2002, Sanford proposed an "academic passport," or voucher plan, that would give parents $3,550 to send students to private schools if their children attended a failing public school.

McCarthy said the tax credit plan is a "scheme to drain public funds from public schools."

"Rather than experimenting with programs already found to make no real difference in student achievement, South Carolina and its lawmakers should focus on making sure that all students have the tools they need for success," she said.

The $4,100 is roughly half what state and federal governments and local taxpayers spend per student per year, according to the governor's budget proposal.

Elizabeth Gressette, executive director of the Palmetto State Teachers Union, said the state only provides $1,700 of that amount; the rest comes from local property taxes or federal grants.

"What the governor is proposing is to fund a private school or home-schooler at two to three times what it funds a public school," she said. "How can the state give parents more to send their children to a private school than it is appropriating to send them to a public school?"

Folks said the state can either continue down the road of taxing and spending that hasn't produced results for schools, or can try innovative ideas.

"The governor is committed to getting more dollars to the classroom, and he's committed to giving more choices to parents. Ultimately, it's that market pressure that's going to have the biggest impact" on improving schools, Folks said.

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