Why I support South Carolina’s school choice program to pay for private schools | Opinion

In South Carolina, some families have been prisoners in an education system that consistently lets them down. Students are forced to attend one school, without any choice in the matter, regardless of how the school performs, and families in poverty have no alternatives.

A 2023 state law finally empowered thousands of these students with a choice in their education, but the South Carolina Supreme Court struck down key elements of the law in September after this school year had already begun.

As chairman of the Senate Education Committee, I pre-filed Senate Bill 62 before the legislative session to restore the school choice program South Carolina students had enjoyed before the court pulled the rug out from under them. Debate on the bill began in the Senate’s first week.

Senate Republicans have been exploring legislative remedies since the Supreme Court ruling was issued. Thankfully, the court gave us a road map.

The court ruled that state-funded education scholarships could not directly be used for private, K-12 tuition. Dissenting justices asserted the opinion was broad enough to threaten higher education scholarships; however, the majority insisted that lottery-funded college scholarships were not in jeopardy and could continue to be used for private tuition. The message from the court’s majority: Fund K-12 school-choice scholarships in the same manner as these constitutionally sound scholarships, like the LIFE, HOPE, and Palmetto Fellows scholarships.

Senate Bill 62 revives the K-12 school choice program with funds generated from the South Carolina Education Lottery. The legislation simply applies the funding mechanism used for higher education scholarships to fund K-12 scholarships.

Last year alone, the General Assembly appropriated over $250 million in lottery funds to the Commission on Higher Education. Many of these funds flowed directly to private institutions, like Greenville’s Furman University, Columbia’s Benedict College, and Spartanburg’s Wofford College, without complaint — or litigation.

Figures from the Department of Education indicate that the first class enrolled in the K-12 school choice program, pursuant to the prior legislation, required just over $2.5 million in funding, far below the $30 million initially appropriated. The costs of funding K-12 school choice are minimal relative to college scholarship allocations and do not threaten any existing programs or funding for public schools.

The new legislation is more expansive than the 2023 bill. Senate Bill 62 enables qualifying students to receive an annual scholarship of approximately $8,500, up from $6,000 under the prior legislation. While the legislation removes some of the previous eligibility requirements, it nevertheless prioritizes low-income families with an early application window for households with incomes below 300% of the federal poverty level.

These critical scholarships enable low-income families to pay for expenses such as textbooks, transportation and tutoring as well as tuition and fees for attending a private school or a public school outside of a student’s resident school district.

School choice is the top priority for Senate Republicans. When the state Supreme Court issued its opinion last year, hundreds of students suddenly found themselves enrolled in schools their families could not afford. The court ruling left families devastated, stuck between the choice to uproot their children or take on debt. Some private dollars helped the children caught in the middle this year, but students and families are counting on Republicans to fix this issue right away.

The South Carolina General Assembly is appropriating more resources to public K-12 education than ever before. Traditional K-12 public schools provide a high-quality education in many districts, but they’re not the best fit for all families. Education lottery scholarships will again give South Carolina families a choice and put students first.

This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Why I support South Carolina’s school choice program to pay for private schools | Opinion."