(Published February 15‚ 2005)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The Statehouse buzzed Tuesday with hundreds of children, parents and educators talking with lawmakers about school choice.

Several groups rallied on opposing sides of the Capitol to express their concerns about a bill that would give tax credits parents who send their children to private schools, charter schools, parochial or home school. It also would allow parents the option to transfer their children to different public schools.

Diane Wiley wants to see the bill passed because her nieces and nephews are forced to attend Lee County's only high school.

"We need a charter school because we don't have choices," said Wiley, 48. "Nobody can afford a private school because there's no jobs in Lee County."

South Carolinians for Responsible Government president Tom Swatzel, whose organization handed out 3,000 blue baseball caps advertising school choice, said he was impressed with the size and racial diversity of the crowd gathered on the north steps.

"Something must be done before we fail another generation of kids," Swatzel said. "It's time to say 'no' to the status quo."

Members of several home-schooler associations from across the state and North Carolina were on the southside protesting the legislation.

They said they object to the measure because many parents who home-school their children don't make enough money to qualify.

"The tax credit for home-schoolers will have to be in a higher tax bracket to get any benefit," said Ann Ashley, director of New Beginnings Home School Association in Summerville. "The poorer you are, the less you're going to get as a home-schooler."

The bill known as "Put Parents in Charge" is one of Gov. Mark Sanford's top legislative priorities.

The Republican governor said he wants to take politics out of the education system and replace it with the power of the market place.

"We cannot afford just incremental changes in education," said Sanford, who pointed out South Carolina ranks at the bottom of many education rankings.

To highlight the struggles in public schools, Sanford said his oldest son, a seventh-grader at a private school in Columbia, recently scored an 870 out of a possible 1,600 on the SAT, a college entrance exam. The test is typically taken by high school juniors and seniors.

"He didn't study for the test, he didn't take any SAT preparatory tests, he just went out and took the test to see how he'd do," Sanford said. "He scored essentially better than 25 percent of the college bound seniors - 25 percent better, but he's a seventh-grader."

State Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum and groups representing the state's public educators say the proposal would take money away from public schools.

Ashley said she was concerned about the amount of money being pumped into lobbying for the measure. "There's lots of room for fraud," she said.

Swatzel with South Carolinians for Responsible Government would not say how much money his group had raised, but described it as a "significant number."

His group has advertised on television, radio and billboards.

Copyright © 2005 The Herald, Rock Hill, South Carolina