Scale back the tax-credit plan

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To put it simply: South Carolinians are wary of Gov. Mark Sanford's plan to provide tax credits for parents to put children in private schools. They are worried the initiative will divert too much money from public schools to private schools. They are concerned also the initiative won't reach children from low-income families — those who most need help to escape failing public schools.

In short, if lawmakers listen closely to their constituents this week, they will come to the conclusion that the state needs to adopt a go-slow approach toward school choice. They will realize they need to sharply scale back Sanford's overreaching Put Parents in Charge.

Supporters of school choice are presenting the initiative as a way of providing choices for students from low-income families who truly lack the sort of educational alternatives available to children from wealthier families. But the income cap to qualify is so generous — $75,000 taxable income — that an estimated 96 percent of South Carolina families could benefit from the tax credits.

The tax-credit plan should not be a $200 million giveaway to families who already have the wherewithal to put their children in private school. Because school choice will shift finite taxpayer dollars from public to private schools and homeschooling parents, the plan should be limited to students who are stuck in underachieving schools. Well-to-do families already have choices.

Lawmakers need to deal with issues such as bus transportation. A concern also is that private schools can freely reject students who are struggling or have disciplinary problems or handicaps. But those are the students who might benefit most from school choice. In addition, some academic and fiscal accountability must be attached to private schools that accept students under a school-choice program.

It remains questionable whether private schools in South Carolina can accommodate the number of families who hope to take advantage of tax credits or the scholarships that would also be part of the plan. In addition, those scholarships may not be sufficient to pay the full cost of private tuition.

South Carolina needs a limited school choice initiative with a much lower family income cap for students to qualify. Some lawmakers have suggested pilot school-choice projects in poorer counties or where a number of schools are failing. That would be a good way to start a school-choice plan that would be far more modest than the current version of Put Parents in Charge.