Putting the cart before the horse

Gov. Mark Sanford has put the cart before the horse in his efforts to improve education in South Carolina.

This year the governor has been touting his Put Parents in Charge legislation which would allow parents to receive tax credits if they take their children out of public schools and put them in private or home schools. Gov. Sanford said that providing these opportunities for children will help South Carolina's public education system.

Now the governor has impaneled a committee to look at ways to improve education in the Palmetto State. The Education Reform Panel is to look at ways of improving standardized test scores in grades K-12 and how to lower the dropout rate in the state. Logic suggests that it would be better to find what needs to be improved and how to do it before embarking on an unproved statewide program that stands to divert tens of millions of dollars from the state treasury into private hands.

There are many problems with our public education system in South Carolina as low test scores and low graduation rates will attest. It is wise to thoroughly study the system and find where our shortcomings are and come to consensus on the solutions. But this should be done before efforts are made for a major paradigm shift in education such as the tax credit proposal making its way through the Legislature.

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