School choice dead this year

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should come back next year with

stronger school choice legislation.

State lawmakers handed Gov. Mark Sanford a major defeat last week by refusing to approve the governor's ambitious school choice initiative. However, House Ways and Means Committee members left open the possibility that Sanford's "Put Parents in Charge" bill might stand a better chance of garnering support after lawmakers have a year to study the initiative.

It's understandable that lawmakers would want more time to consider such a potentially far-reaching measure that would provide tax credits for parents to send their children to private school or home school them. But it's equally true that students in failing schools need more options now.

Lawmakers, to their credit, drew attention to some of the bill's shortcomings. Most notably, committee chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, expressed concern about the lack of accountability for private schools. Under Sanford's plan, those schools would continue to enjoy freedom from many state guidelines. Private school supporters believe that independence helps the schools to flourish. But in other states, a lack of state oversight for school choice programs has resulted in some educators hired without criminal background checks and some financial scandals in private schools.

Under the bill, private schools benefiting from taxpayer money also would not have to prove, through standardized testing or another means of measuring academic achievement, that students are learning. Another drawback is the plan would provide subsidies not only to parents of modest means but also to upper middle-income parents. A single parent with a child could earn up to $75,000 of taxable income. The income requirements should be lowered to provide the credits only for families who truly lack a choice of schools.

In two years, parents who already send children to private school or home school their children would begin to qualify for the tax credits. That could place a huge burden on the state budget at a time of scarce funding.

Despite these problems, school choice is an idea whose time has come for South Carolina. School choice would offer more hope to struggling students and provide a strong incentive to public schools to shape up or face the prospect of an exodus of students to private schools.

Now that the bill has died in the House, Sanford should work closely with legislative leaders to produce a bill that will gain strong support. Next year, lawmakers shouldn't fail to approve a revised "Put Parents in Charge" bill that will offer greater educational opportunity to those students who are poorly served by public schools.