Beaufort County's three House members -- Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort; Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton; and Rep. Richard Chalk, R-Hilton Head -- continue to support the voucher plan, which has been a major education issue for Gov. Mark Sanford in his Put Parents in Charge plan.
Supporters of the tax credit plan say that the issue is about choice. They contend the legislation is a way to help poor children gain the education they deserve and that it will improve public education in the long run.
The issue is about choice -- a choice between funding private education and stripping money from an already underfunded education system. It offers a choice to upper-middle class families that already can afford to send their children to private schools. But it doesn't offer choice to poor families.
Under a plan approved in a House budget committee last week, Put Parents in Charge was reduced to a two-school pilot program -- one in a rich district and one in a poor district -- but this plan is still a detriment to the public school system.
The state's chief economist, Bill Gillespie, recently released an assessment of the plan. This is the man charged with estimating the cost of the legislation to the state. Gillespie predicts that Put Parents in Charge legislation would cost the state $29 million the first year and $231 million when all provisions in the bill take effect five years later. In fairness, the chief economist predicted some savings, but the cost far outweighs them. He also said the benefit to poor families making less than $35,000 annually would be low.
Support for Put Parents in Charge diminished after Gillespie made his report. Many pulled their support, but Beaufort County's three lawmakers have continued to support it, according to the S.C. House Web site. Gillespie's report said that when the tax credits for scholarships, which could be taken by families or businesses, hit full force it would have a tremendous financial impact on the state treasury -- and by implication undermine support for public schools.
This limited pilot project may have a kernel of merit, but it still will cost a considerable amount of money to implement. Lawmakers looking for important ways to improve education already have taken some steps this year. They have approved legislation to make it easier to establish charter schools. They could go a step further and fully fund the State Department of Education budget, or they could take additional steps:
• Fund a project similar to the Peace Corps for schools. Send an army of people into the public schools with the purpose of working one-on-one with underachieving students to bring them up to par; or
• Develop a plan to get underachieving teachers out of the system and pay enough to hire better teachers.
Parents of students who attend failing schools already have a choice. They can transfer a child from a failing school to one that meets their expectations. This doesn't seem to be a popular idea and may be the result of a lack of transportation, among other issues. Transportation would be a problem to families under the school choice model.
As we have said before, South Carolina may be able to grow into a school choice plan, but trying to make the leap in one year isn't feasible. But the goal should be to strengthen the public education system. Anything that undermines the effort should be scuttled.