SC bill would expand private school choice to low income students
Parents of low-income students in South Carolina would be able to take the state portion of school funding allocated to their student and use it at a private school under a proposal being discussed by state senators.
The program also would be available to students with special needs, students previously in foster care, and students who are from military families.
If passed, the proposal would represent a large expansion of school choice in the state and a victory for proponents who have been pushing school choice legislation for years in South Carolina as an alternative to poorly performing schools.
“You have schools that are consistently under-performing, if there are opportunities for the child to go somewhere else, I think we ought to do that,” said state Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, who is the primary sponsor of the legislation and the majority leader in the Senate.
The state money a district receives for students who take advantage of the program would be placed in education scholarship accounts for parents to use on eligible costs.
A proposal in a similar bill in the S.C. House would allow state money to follow a student into another public school district, said Oran Smith, a senior fellow at the Palmetto Promise, who spoke in favor of the legislation.
Smith said he would not expect a large portion of eligible students to initially take advantage of the program, if adopted.
“Education scholarship accounts will benefit only our most vulnerable children — those who are poor or have special needs (and are currently in public school),” Smith wrote in a statement.
The state has an existing program where taxpayers may donate money to a grant fund to help students with special needs pay for private-school tuition. In return, the donors receive a tax credit equal to their donation, up to 60% of their tax bill. The state also offers parents of eligible children a tax credit for private-school tuition payments.
Critics noted Tuesday that the proposal would result in public school dollars being used to subsidize private-school tuition.
“That’s money that could go toward attracting and retaining teachers,” Frank Morgan, a retired school superintendent in Kershaw County, said in opposition to the bill.
“I lose 50 kids and they’re spread across 20 schools, I lose about $325,000, just ballpark based on $6,500 a kid,” Morgan added.
According to the state impact analysis of the bill, as much as $222 million could be diverted from public schools to private schools if the proposed maximum of 5% of the estimated 667,000 eligible students participate in the program. The cost could grow to $457 million in the second year of the program if the maximum of 10% of eligible students take advantage. There would be no cap in the third year.
A familiar debate
The debate Tuesday echoed familiar arguments in South Carolina for and against opening up state dollars to help parents and taxpayers send their children to private school.
Supporters of the bill said public schools do not always offer the educational services their children need.
Candace Carroll, the grassroots director for the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity, said she has a child with special needs, but the area she previously lived in didn’t have schools with the services her child needed. Her family then had to move.
“We know far too many children are assigned to schools that are unable to meet their educational needs,” Carroll said.
But critics said the proposal would siphon off much needed resources from public schools.
Scott Price, executive director of the S.C. School Board Association, called the legislation a “voucher bill” and said it just diverts money from public schools when more funding for public schools is needed.
“For decades, we have not met the fiscal responsibility as a state we have in terms of fully funding our public schools,” Price said. “Unless we meet that responsibility, we shouldn’t be having a discussion about diverting precious resources to private schools.”
He also said there’s no guarantee a private school would accept every student who decides to take advantage of the program.
“What guarantees are in the bill that low-income students would have a shot at using this?” Price asked. “At the end of the day, private schools have the choice, not the kids.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify that the legislation proposes caps on participation in the first two years of the program.
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
