(Columbia) Feb. 17, 2004 - Sarah Jackson-Smith, 11, has always attended private school. She's now a fifth grader at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia. Sarah's mother, Susan Heath, believes in private school so much she's on the board at Heathwood.

But, Susan's also a strong believer in public schools, "The whole idea of public education is part and parcel of our democracy." She thinks the "Put Parents in Charge" act is a bad idea, "Part of what gives me tremendous pause on this proposal to offer people the incentive to migrate from the public school is where do they plan for them to migrate? The idea that you can just get into an independent school is just not true."

If you're thinking about taking your tax credit and migrating to a private school, Hammond Headmaster Herb Brooks says think again, "We're college prep. Every kid here graduates and goes to college, so if a child has a serious learning disability, we do not have the ability to deal with that, so that child wouldn't get in."

Governor Mark Sanford says that's fine, because he doesn't envision an exodus from public schools anyway, "The bulk of them won't go anywhere. If you look at the school choice movement across America, what's happened is the bulk of students stay right where they are."

But, as the governor said in his State of the State Address, for families who do decide to leave their current school, "Let's be clear about this. Buildings don't teach. Teachers teach."

Sanford wants to see people using the "Put Parents in Charge" act to set up community schools all over South Carolina, "You would see new schools just as you see in Milwaukee with little schools that are part of a church building or they're in an empty warehouse space," and he says, "There would be absolute oversight."

Parents would be in charge of overseeing curriculum and achievement at these new schools.

Teacher Cliff Barrineau wants to know what happens to public schools like Dreher High School, "It's not that I have an issue with school choice. It's that the funding will be removed from some of the schools that still need the funding."

Barrineau, others in the public school system, and even a recent study all claim the proposal would mean stealing millions from an already under-funded public school system.

Public schools get money from three different sources: local property taxes, the federal government, and state money. Sanford says under the act, if a child leaves a school, the property tax money and the federal money stay in the school, and about 50 percent of the state money is lost, "Per pupil spending for the remaining students goes up. The teacher student ratio actually goes down."

But, opponents of "Put Parents in Charge," like Susan Heath, say that's 50 percent too much, "This idea of a statewide voucher system is untried. It's unexplored."

The concept is not completely unexplored. Put Parents in Charge is loosely based on a school voucher program that's existed in Wisconsin for 15 years. Friday night, News 10 will look at that system and compare it to the plan being proposed in the Palmetto State.

The simmering school choice debate turned racial on Thursday as black leaders pledged to fight the Put Parents in Charge bill. The state NAACP President Lonnie Randolph and Representative Thad Viers got into a shouting match in the crowded lobby of the State House over the issue.
     
The Myrtle Beach Republican approached Randolph about the NAACP's economic boycott of the state set in place until the Confederate flag is removed from Capitol grounds.
     
Minutes before the encounter, members of the state chapter of the NAACP and black lawmakers said the school choice legislation would take resources away from public education.

by Craig Melvin
posted 6:00pm by Chris Rees with AP