For Immediate Release Contact: Luke Byars (803)734-2080

Columbia, 1/6/00. Today, Lieutenant Governor Bob Peeler and State Senators Hugh Leatherman, Warren Giese, Joe Wilson, and other legislative leaders released a plan which will allow students to transfer out of failed schools.

Lieutenant Governor Peeler said, "Our plan will strengthen the Education Accountability law and shine a ray of hope in the heart of every young child who is hungry to learn and eager to excel. It is the right thing to do because in South Carolina, we can’t afford to leave any child behind."

The plan is mirrored after a companion bill prefiled by State House Representative Bobby Harrell, which will give parents the option to transfer their children out of a failed public school and into another public school. The new school can be inside or outside their current school district lines with certain conditions.

Representative Harrell added, "This is an issue that most people should agree on, that if a school is deemed unsuccessful, then the parents of a child ought to have the opportunity to find that child a successful school."

Senator Hugh Leatherman, lead sponsor of the bill in the Senate said, "I have heard some of the democrats criticize transferability as too risky, but is there anything more risky than sanctioning failure in our schools? Clearly, all of our children should have the same access to a first class education."

The bill is based on a Florida law that enables students to leave poor performing schools.