The state Senate should improve lottery funding for school bus purchases and supplemental programs for grades K-5 beyond what is recommended in a Finance Committee plan. Improvements to the state's deteriorating bus fleet and extra money to bolster academic programs for elementary school children should be at the top of the Legislature's list for lottery spending.
The Senate Finance Committee unfortunately would cut the House allocations for each program, and give more money for tuition aid to technical college students. College scholarship programs already receive the lion's share of lottery proceeds.
Supplemental programs for K-5 would be cut some $20 million from the $50 million recommended by the House of Representatives. House increases for supplemental reading, science and math instruction acknowledge their importance. The inadequate level of academic achievement in those grades should encourage a general revision of lottery spending in support of elementary schools by the Legislature.
That should definitely be the case in view of the continuing upward estimates for lottery proceeds. The forecast for the current year recently was increased from $172 million to $253 million, and could be even higher, according to a lottery spokesman.
The lottery money has been used mainly for a variety of scholarships and tuition grants, reflecting their popularity with parents and their college-age children. Legislative proponents say scholarship programs help keep good students in state, thereby reducing a brain drain from South Carolina.
But funding programs that ensure competency in the lower grades will help local districts improve the academic foundation for their students, necessary for success in secondary and higher education. Giving K-5 more support is a better long-term plan for improving the state's academic ranking than free money for college.
Meanwhile, the Senate should maintain lottery funding for school bus replacement and repair. The bus fleet continues to age, and the lottery money offers a stopgap until state revenues are sufficient to provide for a regular replacement schedule.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman questioned why the previous lottery funds for school bus purchases have yet to be spent, as he recommended the upcoming allocation be reduced. The state's superintendent of education says that bidding awaits new bus specifications by manufacturers now in the process of being finalized.
"Vendors had informed the department that they would be reluctant to bid on requests under our old specifications since major changes were forthcoming in their manufacturing procedures," Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum wrote in a letter to Sen. Leatherman, in response to his remarks. In addition, the more money that is available for school bus purchases, the better per unit price the state can expect to receive, she wrote.
The popularity of lottery scholarships ensures their continued existence. But the Legislature would be acting more responsibly if it bolstered funds for supplemental elementary school programs and improvements to the state's clunky school bus fleet. Certainly, funding shouldn't be cut for either.
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