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Article published Apr 20, 2004
Democrats rip school choice plan by governor
Associated Press
COLUMBIA -- House Democrats say public
schools would lose money if legislators pass Gov. Mark Sanford's proposal to
give tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools.The
proposal diverts tax dollars from public schools at a time when state government
already underfunds schools, House Minority Leader James Smith of Columbia said
Monday.The bill, which gets its first public hearing today, would allow families
making less than $75,000 annually to receive an education tax credit on property
or income taxes to use toward private education, home schooling or the cost of
transferring a child to another school district."We should be talking about how
to find more money for education not less," said Rep. Joel Lourie,
D-Columbia.Sanford's proposal would give parents more choice in selecting
schools for their children in a state where students persistently score lower on
standardized tests than their peers in other states, said the governor's
spokesman Will Folks.A report by a Clemson University researcher has shown that
per-pupil funding to public schools would increase, not decrease if the plan is
implemented, Folks said.Smith said the bill does nothing to ensure that private
schools would have to meet the same accountability standards as public schools.
Public schools are required by law to report how taxpayer dollars are spent and
student performance on standardized tests.The bill also could trigger
deregulation of public schools, Smith said. Under the bill, once 10 percent of
students transfer from a school district, its schools would no longer be
required to meet state academic requirements. One provision would allow
"deregulated" schools to hire more teachers without certification."We've worked
very hard in South Carolina to establish a strong system of accountability,"
Smith said. "If the proponents of this bill are successful in seeing it fully
implemented, we will see massive steps backward in our state's accountability
system."Smith said the proposal would benefit wealthier families more than
others. A family of four making $25,000 living in a $50,000 home would get tax
credits of less than a $1,000, but families making more than that would get
credits of several thousand dollars, Smith said.The proposal is targeted mainly
toward helping lower income families, Folks said."Scholarships...are the vehicle
by which most lower-income families will take advantage of the program," Folks
said.Under the bill, those who contribute to scholarships for students who
otherwise could not afford tuition would qualify for tax credits.Smith called on
Republican leaders to oppose the bill. While the bill has about three dozen
sponsors, none include Republican leadership, Smith said. "We want to make sure
we can join with this Republican majority to fight in opposition of this bill,"
he said.House Speaker David Wilkins said Republican leaders have signed onto the
bill, noting that its sponsor Rep. Doug Smith, R-Spartanburg, is Speaker Pro
Tem. Majority Leader Rick Quinn also has signed onto the bill.Wilkins,
R-Greenville, said he supports the concept of school choice and did not sign on
because he had not had time to study the details of the bill."There are a lot of
bills people vote for that there weren't sponsors of," Wilkins said. "It
certainly doesn't mean a lack of support."The bill has sparked heated debate
between supporters and opponents.One of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Dan Tripp,
R-Greenville, asked the Department of Education on Thursday to release records
detailing how much time the agency has spent lobbying against the legislation."I
think parents need to know how much of their tax dollars are being spent by the
Department of Education on this," Tripp said.