COLUMBIA - Six of the seven S.C. House members from York, Lancaster and Chester counties said Tuesday they are opposed to a controversial school tuition tax credit bill that is being promoted by Gov. Mark Sanford.

Named by its supporters, "Put Parents in Charge," the plan would allow families to reduce either their state income taxes or their local property taxes by as much as $4,000 a year to help pay for private school tuition, home schooling, or transferring their children to a different public school. Also, individuals or corporations could receive tax credits for donating to private school scholarships.

Lawmakers say they expect the House Ways and Means Committee to vote next month whether to send the bill to the House floor for debate. The Senate won't deal with the bill unless it first passes the House.

On Tuesday, Sanford spoke from the State House steps to hundreds of parents, educators and civic leaders who rallied to support the bill.

"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... but he's a seventh-grader."

The bill's only supporter among House members from York, Lancaster and Chester is Rep. Greg Delleney, R-Chester, a co-sponsor. Talking about its prospects Tuesday, he sounded gloomy.

"It really is hard when you're fighting the most powerful lobby in South Carolina," Delleney said, referring to public school administrators and teachers.

Both area members of the Ways and Means Committee -- Reps. Herb Kirsh, D-Clover, and Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill -- said they plan to vote to kill the bill in committee.

"I question whether the money is there to pay for this legislation," said Simrill, who usually supports Sanford, a fellow Republican, on other issues. Estimates say the plan could eventually cost state and local governments as much as $272 million a year.

Simrill also expressed doubts that Put Parents in Charge, whose supporters say would give educational options to children in under-performing schools, would be realistic statewide, given the lack of alternatives in many areas. "Why not do a pilot project somewhere, to see if it works?" he said.

Freshman GOP Rep. Ralph Norman of Fort Mill agreed, saying, "I've got some real serious questions about whether it solves the problem," he said.

Kirsh, a conservative Democrat who often votes with House Republicans, said he objects to Sanford's proposal because private schools and home schools are unaccountable to the state for how they spend their money and how their students perform. Also, he said, he believes public education is inherently superior to private education.

"In the public schools, you're with all kinds of people: white and black, rich and poor," Kirsh said. "It prepares you for the real world. I don't think you get that in private school."

The other three members of the area delegation, all Democrats, said the state should be giving more support to public education, rather than looking for alternatives.

Rep. Ed Emory of Lancaster said the timing of the governor's proposal is poor, coming as the state is recovering from four years of tight budgets in which education, along with other essential state services, was squeezed.

Rep. Jimmy Neal of Kershaw, a former principal, rejected claims by supporters of tuition tax credits that competition will force the public schools to improve. "The public schools are already under intense scrutiny to perform," he said.

Rep. Bessie Moody-Lawrence of Rock Hill, a Winthrop University administrator, said public education in South Carolina, which had been neglected for most of the state's history until relatively recently, is "better off than we've ever been."

Diverting state tax dollars to private education, she said, would be like "going back to the horse and buggy days of one-room schools."