South Carolina should unite for choice in education

As elected officials go, a lot of people might be tempted to view us as the "odd couple."

One of us is black, the other white. One is a Republican, the other a Democrat. One is from the Lowcountry, the other from the Upstate. One is from the House and the other from the Senate.

We wear different clothes, listen to different music, watch different TV shows and probably even prefer different toppings on our pizza.

In a word, we are "unique" — which means we have something in common with the hundreds of thousands of children who attend our state's public schools.

We have all heard the expression "that which unites us is stronger than that which divides us," and that is more true today than ever before.

In fact, that "unity" in pursuit of a common aim is why we are joining with dozens of our colleagues from across the state to lead the fight for long-overdue parental school choice in education.

How can we honestly call ourselves a culture that celebrates diversity and individual empowerment if thousands of children remain trapped in failing schools as part of a "one size fits all" system?

How can we possibly prepare future generations for an increasingly competitive world when nearly half of our students do not graduate on time?

And how can we say that we are confronting growing achievement gaps if we keep returning to the same old "solutions" that have failed the children of our state for decades?

These are challenges that transcend race, gender, socio-economic status and partisan affiliation. And they are challenges that demand a new approach to the way South Carolina cares for its most treasured asset — the children who represent our collective hope, common dreams and shared future. That new approach must begin with a shift in perspective. We can no longer permit public policy in this state to be dictated by a "one size fits all" education system. We need to address the fact that all children are individuals and may need different ways and techniques to reach their full potential. The good Lord makes us all different. Let us embrace that fact and allow parents the options to make sure their children have access to the educational system that best fits their individual needs.

In other words, our goal must be to advance academic achievement by any means necessary, both inside and outside of the current public system. That means empowering parents to find the right school or methods, whether they be public or private schools.

Currently, there are over 150 failing schools in South Carolina with almost 88,000 students trapped inside of them. Many of these failing schools are predominately black, and their parents have lower than average income.

Also, we face declining public school SAT scores and a widening achievement gap between white and black students that is evident in every measure. These unacceptable results come after years of sustained funding increases. In fact, even after this year's budget cuts we are still spending on average almost $12,000 per student when you factor federal, state and local resources.

More money has never been — and will never be — the only answer, although this is the constant refrain we keep hearing in Columbia from government bureaucrats and their lobbyists.

Our proposal is simple — we would take roughly half of the money our state currently spends per child and allow parents to choose a school setting that fits their child's needs through a S.C. Opportunity Tax Credit. It would only be an average credit of $2,500, which pales in comparison to what the state spends to educate children today.

For our lower income families, who may not have a tax liability, we are allowing scholarships be made available for families to send their children to the school of their choice. The scholarship program has been successfully implemented in Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio. It's time we give opportunities to our lower income families to free them from decaying failing schools and give their children the opportunity they deserve.

Public, private, parochial — the choice would be up to the parents.

It's that simple.

It would also create the same sort of competitive system we have in kindergarten and higher education in South Carolina, two areas that are consistently outperforming our 1-12 system. We allow lower income families to choose a private kindergarten and we allow state and federal funds to aid families who send their children to private universities. Why can we not do the same for grades 1-12?

As a longtime civil rights activist once said in referring to education choice as it relates to black Americans: "We have worked to get our people to the lunch counter, now we have to make sure they can read the menu."

In endorsing this proposal, we fully expect to be criticized by the government-funded special interest groups who have successfully blocked parental choice up to this point.

They don't want change because they profit from the current system, and we can certainly see why they are so motivated on this issue. But the time for change has come whether they like it or not.

South Carolina cannot afford to continue down its current path. We must unite behind real change — and real choice — or else we will continue to fail our future generations.

Robert Ford represents Charleston County in the S.C. Senate. Eric Bedingfield represents Greenville County in the S.C. House of Representatives.