The Herald recently published an editorial
critical of the school choice proposal Gov. Mark Sanford and others have
made to reform education in South Carolina. As a sponsor of the "Put
Parents in Charge" (PPIC) legislation, I would like to set the record
straight. First of all, our proposal represents real education reform
that takes the best components of choice programs across the country and
combines them into one comprehensive plan that will help improve all
education in South Carolina -- private, home school and, most of all,
public education.
The bill simply allows parents to take a tax credit for alternative
schooling for their children up to 80 percent of what the state
currently contributes. The balance of the money is saved by the state.
PPIC does not affect local property tax money or federal money currently
going to local districts. For low-income children, parents may apply to
a Scholarship Granting Organization that collects tax credits from
parents without children and uses them to help those who cannot afford
to exercise the option of choice.
The key element of PPIC is that it gives parents -- all parents --
real choices in the education of their children. This will create
competition. And everywhere a choice program has been implemented has
found that competition improves public schools most. That is the aim of
Put Parents in Charge -- to help improve all education, including public
schools, because in South Carolina the status quo is no longer
acceptable.
No disagreement
The true merits of this bill are slowly becoming known, despite
efforts to confuse and distort its provisions and intent. For example,
your editorial based much of its criticism on comments attributed to
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham from a talk he recently gave. Graham is one of
Gov. Sanford's biggest allies and any disagreement between them would
not be politically motivated. In fact, there is no disagreement between
the two on the need to achieve meaningful reform in education as soon as
possible.
In a recent letter to the head of the S.C. Policy Council, Graham
made this point clearly: "I was not addressing Gov. Sanford's
proposals." Instead, he was talking about education reform in general.
Those of us involved in developing PPIC have been pleased to gain input
from a variety of elected officials at both the state and federal level.
The concerns Sen. Graham expressed were legitimate. All of us are
concerned about equity in school funding and the inherent disadvantages
of poorer families as well as poorer school districts that might be left
behind. We also want to make certain that public funds not be used,
directly or indirectly, to support any schools that have discriminatory
policies.
Shared concerns
I share those concerns. Contrary to your editorial's suggestion, Sen.
Graham is not an adversary to PPIC. In fact, he noted in his letter that
he was optimistic about the prospects for positive reform and agreed
with many of its provisions. He also praised Gov. Sanford for leading
the charge on education reform. Sen. Graham noted that the bill was a
"work in progress" and highlighted some issues that were on his mind.
His thoughts are appreciated, and I think our bill will be better as a
result. PPIC does indeed have provisions for non-discrimination and for
low-income eligibility through Scholarship Granting Organizations,
contrary to what The Herald suggests.
When our legislation is introduced in the forthcoming session of the
General Assembly, we expect support from leaders who understand how
important it is to improve the quality of education in our state. It is
simply not accurate or fair to use quotes from Sen. Graham or anyone
else, made in a completely different context, to attack our proposal. I
look forward to a robust debate on this issue in the upcoming session.
And I welcome all serious-minded input from those, like Sen. Graham, no
longer interested in maintaining the status quo. I also look forward to
a day when South Carolina stands out as the very best in the nation in
the quality of education available to all our children.
Doug Smith is the speaker pro tempore of the S.C. House of
Representatives and represents District 32. He is an attorney and lives
in Spartanburg.
