A proposal that would allow parents of students who transfer to private schools from South Carolina public schools to receive tax credits would mean more money going to public schools, according to a study by a Clemson University researcher.

About the plan

• Gov. Mark Sanford’s “Put Parents in Charge Act” would allow parents to receive an education tax credit on property and income taxes.

• The tax credit could be used toward private education, home schooling or the cost of transferring a child to another school district. The plan would be phased in over five years.

Study findings

• As students leave, a school would lose only a portion of the money it would have received for those students, leaving more money for fewer children.

• More than 42,000 students would claim tax credits over a five-year period if they are available.

• By 2010, schools would receive $315 more in per-pupil spending with the governor’s plan than without it.

• The plan would create a more competitive environment for education and result in improvement in public schools.

Supporters say

“Our proposal ... provides more money for each child on the public education side of the marketplace.”

— Gov. Mark Sanford

Opponents say

“South Carolina taxpayers won’t have a clue how their tax dollars are being spent, and that’s a recipe for disaster.”

— Jim Foster, spokesman for the state Department of Education, saying the governor’s plan requires no accountability from private schools that would be receiving public dollars

Who is behind the study

• The $55,000 study by Clemson University economics professor Cotton Lindsay was commissioned by the Legislative Education Action Drive Foundation, a national advocate for school choice, and the South Carolina Policy Council, a conservative, Columbia-based think tank.

The Associated Press