COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina House lawmakers have moved forward with a proposal that would grant all K-12 students in the state access to private school vouchers, regardless of their income.
The advancement of this legislation comes just one day before the scheduled hearing at the State Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the existing voucher program.
If the bill is approved by the legislature, starting this fall, eligible families can receive $6,000 annually in a publicly funded savings account for education expenses at private or out-of-district public schools.
It starts with 5,000 openings for students whose families make about $60,000 or less. Within three years, the eligibility is to be capped at 15,000 students, or about 2% of South Carolina’s school-age population, for families making around $120,000 or less.
The proposed legislation aims to eliminate eligibility requirements by the 2026-27 school year.
Anna Kelly with the South Carolina Catholic Conference spoke in favor of the bill.
“The Catholic Church has always affirmed that parents are the primary educators of their children and they have the right and responsibility to make educational decisions that best suit their family,” said Kelly.
Before Tuesday’s hearing, Democratic lawmakers voiced their concerns at a press conference.
Similarly, Patrick Kelly of the Palmetto State Teachers Association criticized the proposal as costly and premature.
“Every moment that is spent today in a subcommittee talking about the expansion of a pilot program that hasn't been implemented, that we have no data on the efficacy of, is a moment they can’t spend addressing issues that we know the data shows we need to address whether that is childhood hunger and poverty, whether that is a critical teacher shortage in this state, whether that is student safety,” said Kelly.
It's unclear how much this new proposal would cost. The current program will cost up to $90 million by the time it's fully implemented.
Lawmakers have until May to enact the bill into law and it's unclear whether the Senate will take it up.
The Department of Education has received over 5,000 applications for the Education Trust Fund Program as of March 5. 181 private schools statewide have been approved for the program, according to the state Education Department.
Parents have until March 15 to apply.