A new coalition of business leaders, lawmakers and education activists has formed to try to defeat Gov. Mark Sanford’s signature education issue — the Put Parents in Charge Act.

The group — calling itself Choose Children First — held its first meeting Friday in Columbia.

Its members include some heavy hitters in South Carolina’s business community — a driver in S.C.’s education accountability movement a decade ago.

Several GOP lawmakers and party boosters also have broken ranks with fellow Republican Sanford to openly oppose one of the governor’s top priorities.

Put Parents in Charge would give parents tax credits to send their children to private schools or other public schools.

“We’re going to get the facts out about this bill and what it really does,” said Rick Ott, senior executive vice president of M.B. Kahn Construction Co. of Columbia, who spoke at Friday’s meeting. “I see this voucher bill as exactly the wrong thing to do to build a qualified work force.”

Lee Bussell, chief executive officer of Columbia public relations giant Chernoff Newman, said Choose Children First is an attempt to draw together a number of smaller groups and individuals already working to fight Put Parents in Charge.

The group is formidable for several reasons:

First, it represents a major step by the business community to oppose Put Parents in Charge.

Bussell is a past chairman of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, which has not taken a public position on the bill. But the chamber has been active on education issues in the past; it was a major supporter of the Education Accountability Act in the 1990s.

Second, the group represents a bipartisan effort, not just a group of Democrats fighting a partisan battle with a Republican governor.

“Until the state adequately funds the rural school districts, I don’t want to support any program that diverts additional monies from public schools,” said Rep. Ken Clark, R-Lexington, whose House district includes parts of the Lexington 4, Lexington 1 and Aiken County school districts.

Businessman Ott, too, considers himself a Republican who supports most of Sanford’s agenda.

“The thing I appreciate about Governor Sanford is that he talks about the quality of life and making our state more competitive,” Ott said. “This bill does nothing in that regard. What it is, is a risky experiment.

“And if it doesn’t work, then we set education back 10 years.”

Also at Friday’s meeting was House Education Committee chairman Ronnie Townsend, R-Anderson. Efforts to reach him were unsuccessful Friday. Others who attended the meeting would not say whether Townsend agreed to join their efforts.

In 2004, however, Townsend made clear his lack of enthusiasm for Put Parents in Charge. He said then that he favored making it easier for students to transfer to other public schools in their home districts.

“That’s what we need to address first and foremost,” Townsend said last year, when the plan failed to make it out of committee.

Democrats at Friday’s meeting included Sen. Joel Lourie and Rep. Joe Neal, both of Richland County, and Samuel Tenenbaum, retired steel executive and husband of state Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum.

What effect the new group will have on the current legislation is difficult to predict. The proposal has been sent to the House Ways and Means Committee.

While Democrats almost universally oppose the plan, a growing number of Republican lawmakers also say they oppose it.

A pair of GOP House members this week asked that their names be removed from the legislation as sponsors. Reps. Garry Smith of Simpsonville and Gene Pinson of Greenwood say too many questions are unanswered about the bill.

Top Republican House leaders also have not embraced the bill. Speaker David Wilkins of Greenville and Ways and Means chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, have not committed to voting for it.

Sanford made an impassioned plea for Put Parents in Charge in his State of the State address last month. His spokesman said Friday the governor welcomes the new group to the discussion.

“It’s an important discussion, one that we welcome all perspectives on,” Will Folks said.

Part of Choose Children First’s mission will be to counter the work of South Carolinians for Responsible Government, which supports Put Parents in Charge.

Proponents of Put Parents in Charge believe it will give parents the opportunity to choose better schools for their children and improve all public schools through competition.

Denver Merrill, spokesman for South Carolinians for Responsible Government, said he was not surprised that a group has formed opposing Put Parents in Charge.

“This is a controversial issue. I’m quite certain they don’t have 80,000 supporters statewide like we do.”

Choose Children First opposes the legislation for several reasons.

Its members believe the proposal:

• Would slow or stop progress the state has made in public education over the past five to 10 years

• Would benefit primarily wealthier South Carolinians, not middle- and low-income families

• Has no proven track record in other states

“We have only one mission,” Ott said. “That is to get the facts out about this bill.”

How they plan to do that — whether through advertising, legislative lobbying or some other strategy — has not been decided, those involved said.

Reach Gould Sheinin at (803) 771-8658 or asheinin@thestate.com