Re "Tuition tax credits undermine concept," Dwight Fee letter March 13:

Dwight Fee is having a fantasy and spreading disinformation about what those "evil Republicans extremists" are planning for our "government/National Education Association" schools. Terms like "most extreme elements of his [Gov. Mark Sanford's] party" do little to add to the debate over [the proposed] Put Parents in Charge Act from an alleged man of the cloth. Fee, as usual, has been too attentive to Michael Moore "documentaries" and listening to our current Democrat Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum saying, "The plan Gov. Sanford is promoting is disastrous public policy - more comprehensive than any voucher or tax credit plan in any state in the nation." This is typical of the demagoguery she spouted during her recent unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate.

I am not familiar with the "Princeton Review" that Fee states evaluated our schools "as the 11th best in the nation." This opinion does not jibe with any other evaluation of our system to date, nor does his other (partisan) analysis appear to be worthy of any further comment.

In a recent presentation at our local "evil" Republican Women's Club, the following information was provided by a speaker for South Carolinians for Responsible Government.

Why do we need school choice? As a society, we owe every child a chance at a first-class education. But today, despite ever-rising spending and taxes, our education system is both unequal and underperforming. Specifically, South Carolina ranks 20th in the nation on K-12 education (according to the NEA) but is 50th in SAT scores, 49th in American College Test scores and dead last in high school graduation. According to our state's Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test scores, three out of four eighth-graders in public school cannot read and write proficiently. The National Assessment of Educational Progress says we are below average in reading, writing and science. Unfortunately, these statistics are even worse for low-income and minority students.

How does Put Parents in Charge differ from other school choice plans? Put Parents in Charge would not be a voucher program. It would not use public money, and it would not increase government control over independent schools.

Put Parents in Charge would let parents take credits against their state income taxes to pay for the school of their choice. In this way, Put Parents in Charge is a tax cut that leaves public school budgets untouched while increasing school quality and options for parents.

How would Put Parents in Charge affect public schools? Despite many misleading claims, public schools will not lose money if Put Parents in Charge is enacted. Since the tax credit is smaller than public per-pupil expenditures, each time parents exercise their right to choose, the school district gains funding. Schools retain all federal and local funding and a portion of their state funds. School districts will have more money per pupil, parents are empowered, and children have a better education system.

Finally, anyone who has followed the antics of the former board of education chairman and former school superintendent in Georgetown County would hardly look to that system for any state or national leadership. Anyone who has listened to Tenenbaum (our part-time school superintendent) and Sanford should have little trouble in deciding who to believe. Those who have read the other handiwork of Fee would probably just end up shaking their heads.

It appears the Sanford plan at least has a chance of improving the S.C. system, and there is no doubt that it could use some improvement.