It was your chance to be heard on the controversial "Put Parents In Charge Act", the governor's plan to offer tax credits to low- and middle-income families to send their children to another public school, a private school or home school. A House subcommittee studying the bill held a public hearing Wednesday afternoon that lasted more than three hours.

But how much of the public was actually heard is debatable. Almost all of the 36 people signed up to speak, 18 on each side, were elected officials or members of groups organized to support or oppose the bill.

The governor made a surprise appearance to push for his own plan, saying market forces would improve the public schools. "It is what we have come to expect as the American way of doing things," Gov. Mark Sanford told the House subcommittee. "Competition is core to the way we do everything else in our society." 

State education superintendent Inez Tenenbaum spoke out forcefully against the bill, though, saying it would hurt public schools, not help them. "I know I speak for hundreds of thousands of public education supporters across the state when I urge you to send this legislation back to the out-of-state interests that brought it here in the first place," she said.

It went back and forth like that all afternoon, a bill opponent speaking against it followed by a supporter speaking in favor of it.

Opponents also gave the committee petitions signed by nearly 3,500 teachers from across the state who oppose the bill.

The subcommittee could vote on the plan as early as Thursday, sending it to the full Ways and Means committee. That's where it's expected to get a real fight, and may not have the votes needed to come out of committee.