After getting a bill through the state Legislature that would make Charleston County School Board elections partisan, legislators are trying to head off deja vu when the bill hits the governor's desk by meeting with him today to convince him to support the bill.

The same bill, introduced by Sen. Arthur Ravenel, passed both houses last year only to meet with a veto from then-Gov. Jim Hodges. State legislators feel they have a better chance with Gov. Mark Sanford, though he has shaken things up this legislative session by vetoing various bills that fell under the heading of either special or local legislation. Sanford has said he opposes such legislation in principle and has vetoed narrowly drawn bills that he says could have been written as statewide laws.

Rep. John Graham Altman III, R-Charleston, plans to meet with Sanford today to stress the importance of the bill.

"This gives greater accountability to the school board and brings the board closer to the people. It will improve discipline and lead to lower taxes," Altman said. "If he vetoes the bill, it ends all hope of education reform in Charleston County."

Ravenel said he believes there are no legal or constitutional problems with the bill, which he describes as legislation to clear up the school board's election process.

"Now we've got a crowded ballot and people are getting elected with less than 30 percent of the vote -- that's not the way it ought to be," Ravenel, R-Mount Pleasant, said. "There's no evil intent here, no deception, just pure and simple A-OK legislation."

Sanford's office did not respond to requests for comment on the partisan school board bill Tuesday.

Board members said Tuesday they thought the addition of politics to education was an unfortunate mix.

"I don't think it's good for the school district," said board member Hillery Douglas. "People are going to answer to the politicians first and the constituents and the kids second."

One possible outcome of the bill passed by the House on Tuesday is that it could initiate a chain-reaction of events leading to involvement by the U.S. Justice Department, which monitors elections for racial representation. Some observers believe a Justice Department review of the system could eventually result in the creation of single-member districts, where people in a specified area would elect a representative from their area, rather than the at-large elections where everyone in the county votes for all nine school board members. Currently, the board's elections are at-large, with board members required to live in certain areas.

There is some speculation that partisan school board elections could lead to litigation as Charleston County Council's at-large partisan elections did. County Council's elections were found to be discriminatory and the county was ordered to change its method of election.

The bill would require partisan elections for those seats on the board that are up for election in November 2004. It would also require the other board members to declare a party affiliation until their elections in 2006. It won third-reading approval on a voice vote, but was generally supported by Republicans and opposed by Democrats.Board Vice Chairman Nancy Cook said voters should be looking at the character of candidates, what they want to accomplish and what their record in office has been.

"Vote for them because they are the right people -- not because they are the right political party," Cook said. "Do not think that because we're going to put on party labels, that is going to straighten out the school board."

For some in the community, the addition of partisan elections is not the answer to making local schools better.

"I don't think it's a good thing," said Jon Butzon, executive director of the Charleston Education Network. "All by itself, it's not going to do anything to improve the quality of education in Charleston County."

Butzon instead supported a bill put forth by Rep. Ben Hagood, a reworking of Sen. John Kuhn's bill to restructure the school district.

After all, Butzon said, it doesn't matter how a board member is elected when the real problems are caused by trying to work in a school system with a convoluted governance structure.

Alan Hopkins, founder of Charleston County Parents for Public Schools, supported the idea in Hagood's bill to have a runoff without party affiliation so there are only two candidates in the general election.

Hopkins said that the public has been speaking out against the idea of a partisan school board since the outcry last year that led to Hodges' veto of Ravenel's earlier bill.

"It strikes me that no one except a few legislators wants it," he said. "It amazes me that our legislators are doing this just because they can and not because they have any evidence partisan school board elections are going to improve education."

Rep. Seth Whipper, D-North Charleston, said partisan elections will make it nearly impossible to get a diversity of culture and background influences on the school board, that it filters candidates solely through the political party process and prevents civil service employees from running.

Whipper said he had some hope that Sanford recognizes those failings in the bill and will veto it.

"School board issues can't be broken down into parties," Whipper said. "Somebody might run on a platform of class size or more local control or even school sizes in general -- or against magnet schools. Those don't always go along with party platforms."

Allison Bruce covers the Charleston County School District. Contact her at abruce@postandcourier.com or 937-5546.