COLUMBIA - The ongoing national argument
over the use of public money for private and religious schools has
moved into South Carolina, where a high-profile battle is under
way.
Encouraged by Gov. Mark Sanford's backing of a plan that would
cut tax bills for parents who send their children to nonpublic
schools, conservative groups have spent at least $250,000 to lobby
and run TV ads to get the plan passed.
Although Sanford's popularity ratings are high and South Carolina
is one of the nation's most conservative states, the issue has
divided conservative voters and faces an uphill fight.
One of the pro-tax-credit ads featured Rock Hill resident Hollie
Bennett, who said, "There is no one-size-fits-all in education. I
have three children, and all three of my children learn differently.
And I need for my education system to teach them accordingly."
Bennett, a social worker, said she became disillusioned with the
public schools when the older of her two boys had problems last year
adjusting to sixth grade. She pulled him out and home-schooled
him.
Public school advocates are fighting back.
Last month, supporters of the statewide "Education First" group
rallied at the State House, including former U.S. Secretary of
Education Dick Riley -- a former S.C. governor -- and State
Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum. The S.C. Education
Association, a public school teachers' association, has spent at
least $100,000 to fight the tax-credit plan.
In York County, a group calling itself "I Pledge Allegiance to
Public Schools," is circulating a petition opposing the bill. Brown
Simpson, a volunteer, with the help of friends, turned in more than
300 names this week.
"I just don't think we should give up on our public school
system; to me, that's what our governor wants to do," said Simpson,
whose wife, Kim, teaches second grade. The couple's two young
daughters attend Oakwood Elementary in Rock Hill.
Simpson said he knows public schools are in serious trouble in
parts of the state. S.C. students' average SAT score ranked 50th in
the nation last year. But, he said, "There are a lot more things we
could do besides just trying to abandon the public schools."
The governor devoted about one third of his State of the State
address urging lawmakers to support his tuition tax-credit plan,
dubbed, "Put Parents in Charge."
The solution to improving South Carolina's under-performing
schools, he said, "lies in market-based reforms to the system itself
... What politics won't change, market forces can change."
But many of Sanford's fellow Republicans -- especially those from
upscale suburban districts with strong public schools -- are
dubious. Last week, GOP Reps. Garry Smith of Greenville and Gene
Pinson of Greenwood, withdrew their backing.
"I think right now, we need to do a much better job of fulfilling
our responsibilities to the public schools; I don't think we're
adequately funding them," said Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill.
The legislature's Democratic minority is hostile to the plan,
which is expected to come up for committee debate in March.
Nation looking at S.C.
If South Carolina passes the plan, it would be the second state
in the nation, after Florida, to generously subsidize private school
tuition.The Florida Supreme Court is considering the
constitutionality of Florida's voucher program, enacted in 1999.
Nearly 700 children attend private schools on state vouchers -- more
than half of them in religious schools. Another 10,000 attend
private schools on scholarships funded by businesses that get tax
credits-- also a part of S.C.'s proposal.
South Carolina is "probably the top battleground in 2005 on the
national stage; that's just proven by the amount of money and
attention that the voucher lobby has poured into the state," said
Mark Egan, spokesman for the National Association of School Boards,
which opposes the plan.
"Nationally, I think there would be a huge momentum" if Sanford's
bill passes, said Sam Daniels, a Charlotte consultant for the Grand
Rapids, Mich., group, All Children Matter, a pro tax-credit
group.
A waste of funds?
While opposing S.C. forces battle over the issue, North Carolina
is moving in a different direction. N.C. Gov. Mike Easley is
expected to use his annual budget message to lawmakers this month to
promote "Earn and Learn," a program where students can graduate from
high school with a diploma and a community college degree.
"We have not had a serious debate over vouchers or tax credits in
well over five years; it has just been a nonissue," said John
Dornan, executive director of the Public School Forum of North
Carolina, a think tank.
While children in South Carolina's poor rural districts need
help, University of South Carolina education school dean Les
Sternberg said, "A tax credit giving them money for private schools
simply won't work, because they simply are not there, they don't
exist."
David Breneman, dean of the University of Virginia School of
Education and an expert in state school finance, agreed. "I don't
have any doubt this would be a waste of public funds," he said.
"You're giving money to people to do what, for the most part,
they're doing anyway."
How the Plan Would Work
Families who send their child to a private or religious schools
would get a dollar-for-dollar reduction in taxes for tuition money
spent. The credit could be applied against state income tax or
against local property taxes, up to $3,200 for a kindergartner,
$4,000 for a pupil in first through eighth grade and $4,600 for a
student in ninth through 12th grade.
Taxable family income couldn't exceed $75,000 -- or up to
$150,000 in before-tax income, S.C. revenue officials said. About 95
percent of S.C. residents would be eligible.
Students who first enrolled in private schools after Oct. 1, 2004
would qualify. Eventually, the plan would cost state and local
governments $272 million a
year.
