Though the start of the state General Assembly session is three months away, education and political groups already are trying to either push or squash legislation that would give tax credits to parents whose children are not educated in public schools.

The bill, called Put Parents in Charge, has the support of Gov. Mark Sanford but was defeated in the last legislative session. Both the governor and state legislators say it will be reintroduced in the coming session, which runs from January to June.

The bill will be similar to the one considered last year, said Sanford spokesman Will Folks, and will offer parents who send their children to private schools or home-school their children tax credits of up to $3,500.

It's not clear what specific action Beaufort County residents and legislators will take on the issue this year.

Last year, the Beaufort County school board signed a resolution opposing the legislation, stating it "underscores the lack of commitment to the belief that all South Carolina children have a right to a free, quality public education." The board asked legislators to vote against "all attempts to divert public education dollars to private interests."

Chairman Earl Campbell said the school board hadn't planned any specific action so far this year.

But three state education groups who think the plan will harm public schools by diverting money to private institutions launched a campaign in Columbia on Thursday. Their aim is to influence legislators to defeat it, said Scott Price, a lawyer for the South Carolina School Boards Association, one of the sponsoring groups.

Representatives from the association, the Superintendents' Division of the South Carolina Association of School Administrators and the South Carolina Congress of Parents and Teachers introduced their grass-roots campaign, "The Right Choice: Our South Carolina Public Schools," at a news conference.

"We're gearing up our forces to oppose the issue because it's bad for South Carolina," Price said.

The campaign is needed, he said, because there are outside groups working in the state to promote the legislation. They have "targeted South Carolina as a battleground."

One such group is the Michigan-based All Children Matter.

J. Sam Daniels, a political adviser for the group, said it supports vouchers, charter schools and other ways to offer school choice to parents. The group, he said, got involved in several state primary elections this year by giving cash donations to candidates who support school choice options and running independent radio advertisements supporting certain candidates.

Daniels said the group will be "taking some action" in Beaufort County, but he would not say what sort of action.

Folks said Sanford is aware groups from outside the state are promoting the bill.

"Provided everybody is following the law with what they are spending and where they spend it, the governor has no problem with them getting their views out," he said.

Folks also wasn't surprised by the support. "It's natural that folks would be emboldened by a governor that supports school choice for parents," he said.

State Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, said he supported the bill last year and would again this year. The state spends a lot of money on education but student achievement is still low. Parents need other choices.

"The only mistake we can make is to do nothing at all," he said.