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Sanford signs charter school legislation

Law provides new approval option for organizers

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COLUMBIA -- Educators and parents hoping to set up charter schools as alternatives to public schools might find that easier with legislation Gov. Mark Sanford signed into law Wednesday.

The law creates a statewide district which would be able to approve charter schools, allowing charter-school organizers to bypass local school boards.

"This bill has been a long time in coming," said Sanford, who signed the bill to shouts of approval and applause.

The governor was surrounded by several legislators, educators and students. Sanford has said parents and their children need education alternatives.

"One size never fits all in any process," he said.

For six years, legislators have tried to pass a variety of changes to the state's charter-school laws. Supporters of the statewide charter-school district argued that public school districts had too large a role in deciding on charter schools, which are publicly funded and would compete with their schools.

"This will change the landscape for the positive in public education in our great state," said Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney.

The legislation could make it easier to create another charter school in Beaufort County, said Hilton Head Island resident Tom Hatfield, who is part of the group opening the county's first charter school on St. Helena Island.

The St. Helena Gullah International Academy opens this fall and will focus on Gullah culture for students in kindergarten through the eighth grade. Hatfield said winning the Beaufort County school board's approval for the academy "was not a painless experience."

Having the option of going through a statewide charter-school district instead of the local school board could simplify any attempts to start a charter school in the Bluffton area, he said.

Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, said the new measure expands choices for parents.

"It shows that people of this state want to give more options to parents and allow for entrepreneurship and innovation within the public school system," he said.

Meanwhile, Hatfield plans to revive the discussions of creating a Bluffton charter school after May 20, when voters decide whether to approve a $43.66 million referendum that would pay for the construction of an elementary and middle school in Bluffton.

"I don't think the dust will settle on where we go from here until after May 20," Hatfield said.