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Article published Feb 16, 2005
Sanford rallies supporters of school plan
Robert W. Dalton
Staff
Writer
COLUMBIA -- Gov. Mark Sanford and supporters of his school
choice plan went on the offensive during a Tuesday morning rally at the
Statehouse.About 2,000 people, mostly home-schoolers and private school
students, parents and educators, attended the rally on the north steps of the
Statehouse. Many were decked out in blue baseball caps and sweatshirts provided
by South Carolinians for Responsible Government, the deep-pocketed organization
that is pushing Sanford's "Put Parents in Charge" plan through television, radio
and billboard advertising.Sanford told the crowd that economic globalization
required the state to drastically overhaul its education system."Sending out a
child into the world without a grade A education is the equivalent of sending a
soldier into battle without a gun," Sanford said. "We live in a world that has
been transformed. We can't afford incremental changes.""Put Parents in Charge"
would provide tax credits for families with taxable income under $75,000 and two
exemptions. The income limit increases by $5,000 for each additional
exemption.The tax credit would be used to cover the cost of sending a child to a
private school, another public school within the same district, another public
school in a different district, or for home schooling.Individuals and businesses
also would receive a tax credit for contributing to a scholarship fund.
Scholarships would cover expenses not met by the tax credits to families.The tax
credits would not exceed the lesser of 80 percent of the tuition, or 80 percent
of $3,200 for kindergarten, $4,000 for grades one through eight and $4,600 for
grades nine through 12.Tom Swatzel, president of South Carolinians for
Responsible Government, said his organization is "taking on the education
establishment in a way that has never been done before.""Something must be done
before we fail another generation of kids," Swatzel said. "It's time to say no
to the status quo."Swatzel declined to say how much money his group has raised
for the fight, but that it was significant. He said the "vast majority" of
donors were from South Carolina. When asked for a percentage, he declined to
say.House Speaker Pro Tem Doug Smith, R-Spartanburg, the bill's primary sponsor,
said some opponents are making his children -- who attend public schools -- an
issue in the debate. That prompted Smith to issue a warning."Don't make my
children the issue, because you won't like the fight you get back," Smith
said.Danny Bowman, a Columbia resident who home schools his three children, said
the bill would give his family some much-needed financial help."It would give us
the tax credits that we need," Bowman said. "We're not rich. We're just making
it like everyone else."But Ava Miller, director of the Christian Homeschooler's
Association of South Eastern South Carolina, said the bill would do nothing for
the low-income families that supporters say it's designed to help. She said that
a family earning $30,000 a year would receive only about a $200 tax credit.While
the bill's supporters rallied on one side of the Capitol, Miller passed out
literature to opponents on the other side.She said the plan opens the door for
discrimination."The Catholic school wouldn't have to let in the Baptist student,
or the white school wouldn't have to let in the black student," she said.Rep.
Scott Talley, R-Spartanburg, said it would take more than ball caps and
sweatshirts to change his mind about the proposal."I met with some folks from my
county and some folks from other counties, all of whom currently have children
in private schools," Talley said."I expressed my concern about rolling this
program out statewide before we have an idea of what the impact will be. And
when I pressed them yet again about the specifics of the bill, they hadn't read
it."Robert W. Dalton can be reached at 562-7274 or bob.dalton@shj.com.