COLUMBIA, S.C. - Gov. Mark Sanford urged legislators to pass a plan that would allow parents to receive a tax credit for paying private school tuition during a surprise appearance before a House subcommittee Wednesday.

Sanford told the lawmakers the plan would improve public schools faster than any steps the state is currently taking, while State Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum said the proposal would abandon public schools just as they start to show rapid improvement.

The meeting was the first chance in this year's legislative session for public comment on the Put Parents in Charge Act, a bill that would allow tax credits for parents whose children transfer from public schools to private schools, home schooling or public schools.

Members of the House subcommittee did not take action on the bill Wednesday after nearly four hours of testimony and expect to take up the bill again next week.

More than half of the approximately 35 speakers were elected officials or heads of special interest groups representing parents, teachers and others.

A crowd filled to capacity a room that seats 145 and a few stragglers wandered the hallways of the Statehouse building where the meeting was held.

Sanford made an unannounced visit to the subcommittee hearing as his education adviser gave a list of statistics to show that South Carolina education stacks up poorly against other states. Tenenbaum had just given out a list showing just the opposite.

Sanford said "incremental" improvements are not enough and more notable progress would come by giving more parents the option of leaving schools that aren't serving the individual needs of their children. The plan also would make schools compete to keep their students from fleeing, the governor said.

In cities where students receive vouchers or other aid for paying private school tuition, "existing public schools got better," Sanford said. "I would not be for this idea if I did not passionately believe it would make existing public schools better."

Tenenbaum said South Carolina schools are improving faster than others in the nation and urged legislators to stay the course set by the Education Accountability Act of 1998, which strengthened standards for public schools.

"Never have we had so much to celebrate about education in South Carolina, thanks to our state's recent, landmark commitment to our public schools," Tenenbaum said. "Never, as we finally move a system that has stagnated for decades, has there been a worse time or less justification to throw up our hands and abandon our public school."

Tenenbaum pointed out that students have improved their SAT scores faster than any other state in the nation over the past six years and have steadily improved scores on the Palmetto Achievement Test.

But school choice supporters say even with improvements in SAT scores, the state still ranks last in the nation.

Sanford's education adviser Charmeka Bosket, a former public school teacher, said the state spends more per student than many other states on educating students, yet half of its students aren't on track to meet standards set by federal legislation.

"While it's great to recognize improvements, we cannot ignore the fact that the rate at which we're improving has not pulled us out of finishing last," she said.