ROCK HILL, S.C. — A South Carolina bill could give students who are eligible for Medicaid or live with a disability $6,000 to pay for private school. S935 passed South Carolina’s Senate this week and is now headed to the house, but not without controversy.
Those who support it say it gives parents options. Those who oppose it say it’s taking money away from public schools.
Charleston Senator Larry Grooms, who represents South Carolina’s District 37, wrote the bill.
“If the taxpayers are investing over $20,000 for that child [to go to public schools], and that child's not learning to read and write, and Mama knows it,” Grooms said. “And a $6,000 education savings account can give that parent an option…why on Earth would we say no?”
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The bill caps enrollment in the program at 5,000 students in the first year, 10,000 in the second year, and 15,000 in the third year. By the third year, it would cost the state about $90 million.
The South Carolina Education Association spoke out against the billing, saying it takes money from public education and gives it to private institutions, that don’t have to follow the same regulations as public schools.
“The overwhelming majority of our children attend public schools,” Sherry East, President of the South Carolina Education Association (SCEA), said. “Yet you say we can't fund smaller class sizes, we can't fund a teacher pay raise… But yet you can find money creatively to fund a different type of program.”
East said SCEA is considering legal recourse if the bill passes.
“Our constitution is very clear in South Carolina,” East said. “It says you are not allowed to give public tax dollars to private institutions.”
South Carolina Senator Mike Fanning, who represents South Carolina District 17, filibustered against the bill, adding in many cases $6,000 won’t be enough to fully cover private school tuition.
“And when we brought that up on the floor, senators said, ‘Well the families can just make up the difference,’" Fanning said. "The families that are eligible [for the proposed program] are Medicaid eligible families, who have the least means to make up the difference."
Grooms said his bill gives parents options.
“It's the same $6,000 that we would have spent [if] that child stayed in the public school,” Grooms said.
The bill is heading to South Carolina’s House next.
Contact Indira Eskieva at ieskieva@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.