The school choice debate is back, and it could affect your child's education. The 2009 Education Opportunity Act, introduced by Senator Robert Ford, would give parents tax credits for pulling their kids out of failing public schools, and sending them to private schools or home schooling them.
“The bill is a tax credit. You get 25 hundred dollars per parent. You get two parents, and that's five thousand dollars. But that's not where it ends. If they need more, they get a scholarship.”
Ford says the scholarship money comes from people like Bill Gates, who have given millions of dollars to target South Carolina, and make sure lower income kids have a decent education. But not everyone is sold on the idea.
Clay Middleton is part of the Superintendent Advisory Council and also works with the NAACP, and he’s a strong opponent of the bill.
“The issue is improving public education. The issue is not taking funds outside our public school system to be used for private dollars.”
He says this bill will hurt public schools that are already suffering because of the current economic crisis.
“Listen, for Charleston County, they have to furlough teachers. So you start taking more resources out of the public school system. Now how is that going to improve public education? How is that going to help out children?”
He says he understands there are issues with the public school system, but he says there's no accountability within the private school system.
Middleton is also calling on Senator Ford to hold a town hall meeting to hear from his constituents, but ford says he gets letters of support every day, and for his opponents, he has some strong words.
“If they cared about poor people, they would try to help me get those poor kids out of failing schools.”
Schools he says would leave graduating students unable to be a productive part of society.
If you would like to read the full bill, just click the following link: http://www.scstatehouse.gov/cgi-bin/query.exe?first=DOC&querytext=school%20choice&category=Legislation&session=118&conid=4575519&result_pos=0&keyval=1180520
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