Already, accusations are flying about the tuition tax credit bill: One side is accused of protecting a broken system, while the other says such a law would undermine public education.

Gov. Mark Sanford is firmly behind the "Put Parents in Charge" bill and included it in his executive budget released Wednesday, although no funding was allocated.

The bill would provide income- tax breaks for those who pay tuition for their children to go to a different school district or a private school. Parents who teach their children at home would receive tax breaks for expenses such as school supplies, computers and textbooks.

Proponents say it will make education alternatives available to families and improve education through competition.

"Those that come from low-income backgrounds will have alternatives and have the opportunity to move their children," said state Rep. Doug Smith, R-Spartanburg, who introduced the bill.

Smith said the bill would result in fewer kids in public schools, which would mean smaller class sizes and more money for those students remaining there.

Opponents say the bill signals an abandonment of public education. Poor students' families won't be able to afford private tuition, even with a tax credit. State Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum, who plans to run again for her office, opposes the bill.

Berkeley County schools Superintendent Chester Floyd said, "It's just a financial advantage for a few. The most challenged students will not be able to take advantage of a tuition tax credit."

Unlike last year's version, which did not make it out of committee, the new bill does not allow the credit to be used for property taxes.

Last year's version would have allowed parents to take a credit for 80 percent of the tuition paid or 80 percent of $3,200 for a kindergarten student; $4,000 for a student in first through eighth grades; and $4,600 for high school grades.

The new bill removes those numbers to create more flexibility, relying instead on average student expenses estimated by the state Department of Revenue.

The average probably will be similar to the numbers in last year's bill, said Eric O'Keefe with LEAD, a national organization that supports the bill. O'Keefe said the organization recently changed its name to the "Parents in Charge Foundation."

Former state Superintendent Barbara Nielsen supports the bill as a way to meet students' different education needs.

"Education as we know it now is not going to be that way in the future," she said. "There will be many ways to deliver it."

While she sees that as positive, others think it undercuts public responsibility.

"This piece of legislation could, in fact, redefine what public schools are all about," said Paul Krohne, executive director of the S.C. School Boards Association.

Those who can afford private schools would get a break because they aren't using public schools, he said.

"If I didn't use the fire department last year, should I be paying less?" he asked.

HOW IT WOULD WORK

Say Johnny is enrolled in a regular public school, but his parents decide they want to move him out of the school. Under the proposed tuition tax credit bill, they have several options:

-- Johnny can move to another public school district as long as that district agrees to the transfer.

-- He may enroll in a private school.

-- Or his parents may decide to teach him at home.

When tax season rolls around, Johnny's parents may apply for a reduction in their income taxes if they earn $75,000 or less and they pay his tuition. The amount of the reduction depends on several factors:

-- If Johnny attends a different public school district or private school, they can use a tax credit of 80 percent of Johnny's tuition or 80 percent of the average spent per student as determined by the state each year, whichever is lower.

-- If they teach Johnny at home, they may take 80 percent of that average.

-- If Johnny qualified for free or reduced-price lunch or free milk, which are both measures of poverty, his parents may take 100 percent of tuition or average spent per student, whichever is lower.

-- If Johnny qualifies as a special-needs student, his parents are eligible for a higher tax credit amount.

If Johnny's parents cannot afford the tuition, the bill allows scholarship organizations to give them up to the amounts above:

-- An individual or company that donates money to one of the scholarship organizations may take a tax credit.

-- The plan would be phased in during the next five years. In 2006, it could be taken for kindergarten through fourth-graders who enrolled in a private school after Oct. 1, 2004. Two grades would be added each year until 2010, when it would apply to elementary through high school students.