South Carolinians who value public
education should be wary of a campaign to undermine our schools under
the guise of such misleading slogans as school choice and putting
parents in charge. In truth, these buzz words are a clever attempt to
distract citizens from their real intent: To cut school funds, transfer
savings to higher income families and leave the state's poorer school
districts to fend for themselves.
Gov. Mark Sanford is a leading proponent of a bill that has the
potential to siphon $200 million or more in state revenue annually and
transfer it to families with children in private schools, those who
home-school children or who could pay tuition to a different school
district that would accept their children.
Lobbyists for the so-called Putting Parents in Charge Act claim the
bill would not deprive public schools of money because it merely allows
parents to use their tax dollars to educate their children, instead of
paying that money to the state. At the same time, they have no plan to
replenish state coffers for money diverted to private education
endeavors.
Families making up to $75,000 in taxable income (which would include
approximately 95 percent of all South Carolinians) could apply for up to
$4,000 in tax credits. For poor families, who don't make enough to
qualify for tax credits, the bill would allow them to seek aid from
"scholarship granting organizations," which would solicit tax-exempt
donations. PPIC advocates claim enough private money would flow to these
SGOs' to provide scholarships to every poor child who applies. No plan
exists, of course, to provide quality alternative schools for the
majority of poor students now attending public school. They would be
left to the mercy of the marketplace.
Home-schooling families would receive tax credits for books and other
education-related expenses, although parents could not pay themselves a
salary and claim a credit for that.
Critics of Sanford's tax credit scheme say that it's hypocritical for
the governor to lambaste public schools for failing to meet national
standards, then give tax breaks for people to send their children to
schools where no state accountability exists. Nor would these
institutions be required to accept every student regardless of race,
religion, economic status or learning ability.
That impetus for such tax credits is high in areas where "segregation
academies" have long-reigned is not surprising. Thwarted by earlier
attempts to obtain vouchers for segregated schools, they have seized on
tax credits as a back-channel substitute.
Organizations behind the PPIC, including South Carolinians for
Responsible Government and the S.C. Policy Council, have made an
unabashed appeal to the religious right, many of whose children already
attend religious schools.
The charade doesn't stop there. A principal plank of Sanford's 2005
budget package is a shell game involving the basic formula for state
funding of schools. The governor wants to increase the state's
per-student contribution under the Education Finance Act but would do so
by diverting money from the Education Improvement Act. A major tenet of
the 1984 EIA was that proceeds from a penny sales-tax increase would be
used for specific programs designed to enhance student achievement.
Citizens were promised this money would not supplant other state support
of public schools. Sanford's plan would do precisely that.
During the first full day of the General Assembly, House members
temporarily beat back a bill that would have stripped local school
boards of approval authority over new charter schools by transferring
that power to the Governor's Office. State Rep.Bessie Moody-Lawrence,
D-Rock Hill, deserves credit for helping thwart this ill-advised
measure.
Collectively, these bills and others, which may not have surfaced
yet, comprise a cynical campaign to shrink government with little regard
for the consequences.
Gov. Sanford says job creation is one of his major priorities, and he
calls for reducing the state income tax to help accomplish that goal.
Yet economic recruiters say industries look first to the quality of a
community's schools in assessing quality-of -life issues for employees.
Ironically, the PPIC plan and similar bills would weaken South
Carolina schools, which serve more than 650,000 students, to benefit
private schools, which serve only 10 percent or fewer of the state's
school children.
Any way you calculate, this is bad math for the Palmetto State.
If you care about public education, contact your state legislators
and tell them not to support these measures. We suggest you start with
local lawmakers who have signed on as co-sponsors of PPIC: Reps. Greg
Delleney Jr., R-Chester; and Reps. Gary Simrill and Ralph Norman, both
of Rock Hill.
