Halfway through the legislative year, state lawmakers still have important issues to consider. But none may be more important than one that would implement a sweeping, school choice plan that could be detrimental to the public education system.

The Put Parents in Charge plan is a major item on Gov. Mark Sanford's legislative agenda this year. The governor thinks that competition in good. "In the history of man, I don't know of a product that has not been made better when subjected to forces of competition," Sanford said in his state of the state address.

Debate has been prolific across the state, and South Carolinians are skeptical of the governor's plan. They worry that the plan will divert large sums of money from public schools and that the people who need the help the most will be left no better off than they are today.

Innovative programs to help improve the quality of education for all South Carolinians always should be the goal. But creating another taxpayer-supported system that doesn't serve everyone and isn't accountable runs counter to rules for the public school system.

South Carolina may need a jolt to its education system to move beyond the ever-so-slow game of catch up that it played for more than a century. But trying to implement in a year a system based on the Milwaukee parental choice program may be too ambitious financially and physically.

Using the governor's plan, parents making up to $75,000 a year would be eligible for a $4,000 tax credit if they opted to send a child to private school. South Carolina has an estimated 54,000 students already in private schools whose parents or a scholarship-granting group would be eligible for the tax credit. Based on private school attendance figures, the governor's program would divert more than $216 million before another parent made a choice.

The parents of these 54,000 students already have made a choice. The governor's plan, using the $75,000 threshold, may allow as many as 96 percent of South Carolinians the opportunity to exercise the choice. In reality, a bigger percentage of middle-class families could exercise the choice, but the lower-income families, which couldn't afford to put up the money first, would be left without a choice.

If South Carolina lawmakers want to shake up the status quo, they should consider a limited plan. Already this year, the House of Representatives has approved a bill to make it easier to establish charter schools. Legislators also could lower the financial threshold for taking the tax credit to those who are really needy. That wouldn't help pay tuition before taking the credit, but such a plan wouldn't divert more than $216 million away from the state treasury, either.

Parents of students who attend failing schools already have a choice. They can transfer a child from a failing school to one that meets their expectations. This doesn't seem to be a popular idea and may be the result of a lack of transportation, among other issues. Transportation also would be a problem to families under the school choice model.

South Carolina may be able to grow into a school choice plan, but trying to make the leap in one year isn't feasible. Legislators should examine other options.