Republicans in the South Carolina House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected a program that would allow parents to spend taxpayer money on private schools and home education, even though the pilot program is just beginning and the state Supreme Court is considering whether it is legal. Gave key approval to expanding legislation.
After a 69-32 vote, the bill will need one more regular approval before being sent to the Senate, where leadership has grown more skeptical about moving forward with a trial over the education voucher program. There is. But Senate leadership has not closed the door to expansion.
The opposition party is almost entirely Democratic, with two Republicans joining.
South Carolina Senate to consider House-approved $13.2 billion budget
“You might plant a few acres of something to see what happens, but you don’t want to experiment with your whole business and not know what the results are going to be,” Democratic Rep. Russell Ott said. No,” he said. His family owns a farm in St. Matthews.
The General Assembly last year passed something called the Educational Scholarship Trust Fund Program, which provides up to $6,000 for 5,000 students. The funds will be used to pay for tuition, transportation, supplies, and technology at private schools or out-of-district public schools.
The current program is three years long and expands to a household income cap of $120,000 and enrollment of 15,000 students.
South Carolina House Education and Public Works Committee Chair Shannon Erickson (left) and Committee Investigator Pierce McNair (right) speak during a debate in the House of Representatives on March 20, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
The House-passed proposal would open the program to all students and increase per-pupil spending in public schools as well as the amount given to parents.
House Education and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Shannon Erickson said the program needs to be expanded as soon as possible so more parents can receive assistance. She was the only Republican to speak in favor of the bill, and only spoke for a few minutes.
“I’m an education advocate who supports all of the above,” said Erickson, a Republican from Beaufort. “We can support public schools and public school teachers, we can support the needs of children and families, and we can do it well.”
Earlier this month, the South Carolina Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the 2023 law violates the part of the state constitution that prohibits direct aid to non-public schools. Supporters of the law argued that the money is not direct aid because it goes into a trust fund for parents to use.
This year’s House bill expands aid for homeschooling. It would also eliminate state audits of private schools that receive funding and no longer require students to take the same standardized tests as public school students.
Democrats want to keep the amount the Education Department can collect to pay private companies to administer the program at 2%, rather than raise it to 5%, and to not force private schools to raise fees for voucher students. He proposed several changes to the bill, including requiring certification. All of their amendments were rejected.
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“The pilot program was supposed to be a test, but it hasn’t been tested,” said Democratic Rep. Cambrel Garvin of Blythewood. Garvin taught for about three years.
Allowing parents to spend public money on private schools has been in the works for two decades through three governors, four House speakers and five superintendents in a state where Republicans have strengthened and expanded their influence. It’s an initiative.
This law is part of a nationwide movement. Groups studying the program report that as many as 16 states have some form of voucher. The Georgia Senate passed a $6,500 per student voucher bill Wednesday and sent a proposal to the governor.
