GOV. MARK SANFORD’S rhetoric on public education has long been clueless and reckless. In recent days, however, the statements on this issue from his office have taken on a sinister and destructive tone.

In praising a Milwaukee voucher program, Gov. Sanford went out of his way to belittle two South Carolina communities, asking, “Can you imagine tears (of joy) being shed because you got into the public school in Allendale or Marion?”

Yes, we can, in places like Marion District 7, where a new high school is the pride of the community. In Marion 1, they’re just as proud of their National Blue Ribbon primary school. In Allendale, there were tears and cheers in 2004 when the district’s strides at improving student performance were enough for an “Excellent” grade on that measure from the state.

The rhetoric from the governor’s office got worse last week, when spokesman Will Folks offered this doozy in support of a plan to shift public money to private schools:

“We’ve got a great deal for the current education bureaucracy,” Mr. Folks said. “It can keep over two-thirds of the $9,800 it currently spends attempting to educate each individual child, and we’ll give parents access to the marketplace with the other third to make sure someone is actually educating that child.”

If the state’s teachers and principals were asleep on this issue, we have a feeling that snotty remark woke them up. What an insult to the hard-working and underappreciated public servants who teach our children to read, who help them find their calling in life and help shape a brighter future for this state each and every day.

If anyone had any idea left that Gov. Sanford was simply interested in letting a few parents choose a different route for their children’s education, they can abandon that notion now. We are clearly witnessing an assault on the very concept of public education, and from our state’s chief executive no less. His may be a high-profile and powerful post, but the good folks from all around the state who know the folly of the governor’s approach must ensure it does not prevail.