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by Claire Weber
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCIV) — South Carolina could soon see a revival of its ‘School Choice’ program.
State senators passed a bill Thursday that would use South Carolina Education Lottery money to fund private school scholarships and other costs after the state Supreme Court struck down the use of the general fund in September.
What’s still unknown is if the high court would agree with lawmakers that the lottery isn't public dollars.
“Every child deserves to have a good education and there are too many children that are trapped in a failing school,” said State Sen. Larry Grooms (R, Berkeley and Charleston Counties).
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Grooms is one of three sponsors of the bill.
If signed into law, it would provide up to 10,000 students with roughly $7,500 to pay for tuition and other costs in its first year. Families making up to 300% of the federal poverty line would be eligible to apply, which is about $93,000 for a family of four.
The program would then expand to 15,000 eligible students and 400% of the federal poverty level by 2027.
A student’s scholarship amount would also depend on the average per-pupil funding each school received from the state the prior year.
Per-pupil funding for fiscal year 2024-25 is estimated as:
Grooms is confident this program would drive competition for public and private schools while also creating new educational opportunities.
“I believe once parents understand the value that they can receive at a different school, we'll start having a lot of independent schools come into existence that do not exist now,” he said.
But the bill’s critics say the state’s education lottery money should be focused on existing needs, like the public school system’s bus fleet and in-state college scholarships.
Low is a public high school teacher and president of the Berkeley County Education Association. She worries that the state legislature’s choice to prioritize costs for private education will result in public school teachers leaving the job.
Already, Low said many are burnt out from paying for school supplies out of pocket, yet they want to see their public schools succeed.
“Our ability to retain teachers has a lot to do about the stability that we can create for these teachers,” Low said. “This is not stable, what's being presented.”
After a final, procedural vote in the State Senate next week, the bill will move to the State House.
While House Republicans support ‘school choice,’ it’s uncertain if they’ll support the use of lottery funding.
