Senate bill gains partial victory
Ford criticizes legislators not backing proposal
By Yvonne Wenger
COLUMBIA — Sen. Robert Ford lashed out at fellow legislators Wednesday who don't support his proposal to use tax credits toward private school tuition, accusing them of benefiting from high-quality public schools that play favorites with the rich and powerful.
Senator Robert Ford (D - SC)
A bill by the Charleston Democrat, which also would create a scholarship fund to help pay tuition costs for poor kids, was handed a tempered victory by a Senate subcommittee that sent it to the full Education Committee without its backing in a 6-4 vote.
Earlier in the meeting, the panel voted 8-0 to advance a bill with its endorsement that would require public schools to offer more educational options, such as Montessori and single-gender classes. Many of Ford's opponents point to this bill, advocated by state Superintendent of Education Jim Rex, as a way to improve public schools, not dismantle them, which they argue tuition tax credits would do.
Despite the action, it is unlikely that either of the bills can become law this year as the Legislature moves closer to its scheduled adjournment in late May or early June. Ford said he welcomes the extra time this summer and fall to promote the legislation. He is credited with rejuvenating the six-year-old school-choice movement with his support of tax credits.
Political hardball
Ford said he also plans to spread the word that he thinks legislators who are fighting tuition tax credits are not serving the best interest of the public.
"We're going to raise hell and get rid
of some of these two-faced, hypocritical elected officials," Ford said after the meeting. He added, "Some of those people don't have a right to be representing people when they don't give a damn about their neighbors. They care about themselves."
Ford said he will not tip-toe around the subject, with thousands of children in failing public schools. He said the public is on his side, and cited a poll — paid for by school choice advocates — that found 61 percent of the 1,000 black voters surveyed thought that Ford has the best interest of poor children at heart.
Financial impact reports
A report prepared by Burnett Maybank, a Columbia lawyer and former state Revenue Department director, at the request of the Palmetto Policy Group, a legislative affairs lobbying firm that is advocating for Ford's bill. (PDF)
A report from the South Carolina board of Economic Advisors prepared for the Senate Education Committee (PDF)
Dot Scott, president of the Charleston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has been one of Ford's most fervent critics on this matter. The local NAACP is planning a town hall-style meeting Monday in Ford's district to gauge the pulse of his constituents on the school-choice bill.
Scott said Ford is not representing the interests of the people who sent him to Columbia, and because he has not reached out to them in a public forum, she said he is showing a level of disrespect that is unconscionable.
Sen. John Matthews, a Bowman Democrat, would not comment on Ford's blanket indictment. He said, though, that the wealthy will be the only ones guaranteed to benefit from the tax credits and the poor will have to beg for scholarships. The average tax credit in Ford's bill is worth about $2,500 for each child, and those who don't make enough to claim a tax credit can qualify for a scholarship.
Cost of choice
Burnie Maybank, a Columbia lawyer and former state Revenue Department director, found that Ford's bill would add $5.4 million to state coffers. He was hired by a school choice lobbying firm to analyze the net impact of the legislation when the cost of tax credits is weighed against money saved when public schools don't have to pay to teach a student.
The state Board of Economic Advisors sees a different picture. The board estimates that in the first year the bill would cost $56.4 million with 19,500 students claiming a tax credit. When fully phased in in 2013, it would cost the state $174.4 million with 89,500 students taking a tax credit.
Each economic forecast was criticized by senators on one side of the issue or the other.
Debbie Elmore, director of communications for the South Carolina School Boards Association, said the state's already ailing public schools would be left hurting if the Legislature approves tax credits. Only a handful of students in each school would take the tax credit and transfer out, which would leave districts with the same level of expenses.
The costs for teachers, turning on the lights and running water as well as staffing the cafeteria and providing guidance counselors would be the same unless students left public schools en masse, which is unlikely, Elmore said.
Treating public education like a user fee goes against the principles of the nation, she said.
"Public education is open to all and it is available to all," Elmore said. "That is a democracy."
Sen. Larry Grooms, a R-Bonneau and a member of the Education Committee, said he is going to push for the full Senate to take a vote on school choice before summer adjournment.
"This is one of these issues where the free choice of individuals is pitted against the imposition of government," Grooms said.
Both Ford and Grooms are interested in seeking their parties' nomination for governor.
Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-799-9051 or ywenger@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
mb300sl (anonymous) says...
Dot Scott and politicians...who cares? All of them are idiots!
April 30, 2009 at 6:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
pedrosha (anonymous) says...
Pretty bad. robert ford, one of the most racist individuals in south carolina, doesn't even have the support of his own people now. He is truly off his rocker!
April 30, 2009 at 8:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wjhamilton3 (anonymous) says...
The people who will take these tax credits immediately and get their full value are people whose children are already in expensive private schools and who pay enough in State Taxes to use the tax credit immediately. That would be a pure loss of state revenue of $2500 per student. Those students aren't in public schools now, so that is a net loss.
Private schools won't take special education students, which are the most expensive to educate. Students from small, rural schools are unlikely to be welcome at rural segregation academies in places like Hollywood and McClellenville, where communities are racially polarized. These small rural schools have the highest cost per student for educating regular students.
Of course Federal per student funding will be lost for east student who leaves the public system as well.
Given the huge amount of campaign contributions Rich is prepared to give supportive politicians like Ford, it would be easy to make some math mistakes. Since the state can't afford any cuts in revenue now, those mistakes could exacerbate an already terrible budget problem.
We won't be recruiting industry and jobs from Research Triangle in NC or Seattle by saying you can get a $2500 tax credit to send your child to a $8000 to $12000 a year private school in SC. We'll lose our high quality jobs and our skilled labor jobs if we sacrifice the public school system during this economic downturn.
Regardless, nobody is going to be able to equal the quality and scope of instruction available at Wando High School, Academic Magnet or School of the Arts in Charleston County, all schools available to parents through choice programs. Students can test into academic magnet. They can audition into arts and no child left behind transfers into Wando are available now. Busloads of kids from North Charleston, Hollywood and McClellenville walk into Wando every morning. If people want choice, they have it in Charleston.
There are several other transfer and magnet programs available as well.
April 30, 2009 at 9:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
How about doubling the credit for kids with learning or other disabilities. Create the market.
April 30, 2009 at 9:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lloyd007 (anonymous) says...
Excuse me,but 61% of the people (African-Americans) in his district agree with him ( ford )?..Who the hell paid for that study and/or survey ?..Lets keep it real here. this is NOT what the people in ford's district want. Anyone can say or print what they want people to think or believe. Who was questioned during this so-called survey and/or study ? This idiot ( Ford ) would not know the truth about what the people of his district want if it slapped him in the face. His focus of late has been nothing short of self-centered ,all about Robert Ford, Me--Myself--and I. First of all, what does this clown know about education from the start ?..NOTHING. STOP SELLING OUT YOUR COMMUNITIES for personal gain.Do the will of the people and that of the next generation....
April 30, 2009 at 10:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JDHawg (anonymous) says...
How else is he going to win the election and become governer he's got to do like obama did and lie to the people.
April 30, 2009 at 11:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ParkCircle4Ever (anonymous) says...
Mr. Ford should be ashamed of himself.
April 30, 2009 at 11:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mosinfan (anonymous) says...
Thats right folks, lets just keep pouring money down the drain of the absolute failure of the public school system. Why would we want to try anything else? Just keep doing the same thing and say all we need is more money.
April 30, 2009 at 11:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TheTruthFighter (anonymous) says...
So people, what is the solution for the horrible school system in the nation? Upstate gets more money than Low country! I agree, I would not want Ford nor Dot Scott to represent me in anything. But, if we continue to let this situation go any further, we would have failed our children! I say, place more vocational and tech school in the market and maybe we would have many more employed people.
April 30, 2009 at 12:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wjhamilton3 (anonymous) says...
Charleston's had a tech High School at Garrett for ten years. it's popular, can be accessed by magnet transfer by students from throughout the county and has a good record of placing graduates in jobs. It doesn't have stellar test scores, but it's graduates are employed.
We'll find out how much community support Ford has Monday evening at the public forum. He couldn't have given free money away at last weekend's Democratic state convention. He should join the Republican Party now so he can be in the same party with his financial supporters.
He has three more years in the state senate, so he will be around for a while. He's not going to be getting the Democratic nomination for Governor. You can take Rich's money and have the support of the Democrats.
It's time for Robert Ford to become a Republican.
April 30, 2009 at 1:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MartinAVanderHorst (anonymous) says...
It's time for all South Carolinians to stop reelecting incumbents - Republican AND Democrat - and get some eager new blood in office.
April 30, 2009 at 6:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
truth2009 (anonymous) says...
Lets get the facts on the table. South Carolina is already funding $150 million per year in vouchers to students who attend private, church supported schools. The student receipients attend our private colleges like Allen, Benedict, Wofford, Furman.. ..all are church supported,private schools.If funding these students is wrong, the legislature should withdraw their support, and give these funds to our underfunded public colleges and universities. If it is good, we should support Sen. Ford, and make funds available k-12 students as well.
There is no justification for it to be OK for higher education, and not OK for K-12.
April 30, 2009 at 9:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
nochasgirl (anonymous) says...
Schools don't make students, students make schools. If you do not want an education, you will surely succeed.
May 1, 2009 at 12:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jcncamscott (anonymous) says...
Mr. Ford does this mean you could take a class in ENGLISH!??
May 1, 2009 at 2:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
clc13 (anonymous) says...
Well said wjhamilton3--I believe there are a few private schools in the area that are a substantial bit more than $12,000/year so I'm not really sure a $2500 tax credit is going to make it affordable for a low-income or even middle-income family IF the private school would even take the students in question.
Well said nochasgirl, but don't forget that parents also factor into the equation!
truth2009 - While it is true that Furman is a private school, it broke with the Baptist Convention in 1992. Although the Board of Trustees, students, and pretty much the entire Furman community still tends to lean towards the conservative side, it has no religious affiliation.
School choice on the college level opens up a whole different debate--children are required to attend school up until a certain age (I believe 16-18 depending upon parent consent) but are not required to attend college. Everyone pays for college (or gets a scholarship) no one goes to a state-supported college for free because his/her family paid taxes i.e. even though I pay taxes, I would still have to pay tuition to send my son to USC (excluding scholarships, of course). I do not have to pay tuition to send him to public K-12 schools, but would have to pay to send him to a private K-12 school. I can choose to send him to whatever college will accept him and I can afford whether it be in SC, in another state, or in another country. Then we get back to the whole debate on the K-12 level of if the private schools will even accept the majority of the children applying for "transfers." I could go on. I'm not saying we shouldn't bring your point about higher education into the argument, but it really makes many more points to debate about!
May 1, 2009 at 9:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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