Sanford seeks charter school grant

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is asking for aid for the state's growing charter school system, opening himself to criticism from educators who say he's backing a grant program that's part of the federal stimulus law he fought last year.

"Finally, he's admitting that stimulus money is money we could use and is needed," South Carolina Education Superintendent Jim Rex said Friday, a day after Sanford flew to Washington and met with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

Covering the politics of the Lowcountry, South Carolina and the nation.

Last month, South Carolina submitted a 1,215-page application for a $300 million share of the $4 billion Race to the Top grant program.

The program is part of the federal stimulus law although it isn't from the same pot of cash that sparked the high-profile battle Sanford's waged last year with the Legislature and in the state Supreme Court as he tried to keep stimulus money from patching state budget holes.

"We've never been opposed to them," Sanford spokesman Ben Fox said. He said the Race to the Top grants don't fill budget holes and instead are intended to fuel innovation and reforms, including merit pay and turning around failed schools.

In a meeting reported by The State newspaper, Sanford asked Duncan about using Race to the Top money to help convert failed schools to charter schools, Fox said. Duncan, while in charge of Chicago's schools, encouraged that type of conversion, Fox noted.

Sanford never specifically asked for $300 million in Race to the Top grant money, and "no numbers were discussed," Fox said.

Sanford also asked Duncan for a waiver on an unrelated federal public charter school grant that would let the state keep the award for five years instead of three. And he emphasized that South Carolina's charter school system is growing, with 39 schools this year compared with eight when Sanford was elected in 2002.

In the midst of the stimulus fight, Sanford blocked the preliminary work needed to apply for the funds, Rex said.

Signatures from Rex and Sanford were required on a document showing the state agreed to pursue core education standards that are part of an effort to make sure the nation's children better compete with those in other countries. Rex said Sanford refused.

"We never got any reason as to why he didn't sign the document," Democrat Rex said in a phone interview as he campaigned for governor in Charleston.

Sanford's outlook changed months after he lost the stimulus fight and famously returned from Argentina in June to confess an affair.

"I went back to him some months after that, and this was frankly after all his controversy had broken," Rex said.

Rex said he told Sanford the state wouldn't be able to compete for the Race to the Top grant unless he signed. Five days after that August meeting, Sanford sent the signed document to Rex, and work got under way to apply for the federal grant. "That made us eligible to compete," Rex said.

Beyond his signature, Rex isn't sure what help Sanford could give in the Race to the Top grant effort. He notes Duncan isn't involved in deciding who wins grants. "I'm not real certain what the purpose of his going to Washington was," Rex said.

Still, Rex welcomes a change he sees in Sanford, who for years pushed plans to use tax credits to help parents send children to private schools.

"He is finally beginning to communicate with the sate Department of Education and the state superintendent of education," Rex said.