Whether law takes effect will likely be up to the SC Supreme Court
By Skylar Laird
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — A bill that would allow up to 15,000 K-12 students in South Carolina to receive $7,500 scholarships next year for private tuition headed to the governor’s desk Thursday, May 1, after the House agreed to a compromise with the Senate.
Opponents of the bill in the Senate proposed a number of changes, none of which passed. Democrats in the House put up a final stand Thursday, even while acknowledging they didn’t have the votes to actually stop the bill.
This proved to be the case: The House sent the compromise to the governor’s desk with a vote of 73-32. No Democrats voted for it. Three Republicans voted against it.
Gov. Henry McMaster was expected to quickly sign the bill into law.
The issue was a top priority for Republican leadership after the state Supreme Court struck down private tuition payments last September as unconstitutional.
Private donors have been paying tuition for roughly 800 students since then.
In the coming school year, the bill would provide scholarships to up to 10,000 students whose families make up to 300% of the federal poverty level.
Eligibility would increase in 2026-2027 to 15,000 students living in households with incomes up to 500% of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, that would be nearly $161,000 under 2025 guidelines.
Students who are in public school and whose families make less than 300% of the federal poverty level would get priority in receiving the scholarships through early application windows.
While the compromise doesn’t create universal school choice like the version the House passed, it does leave the door open for legislators to put more money into the program if more than 15,000 students apply.
“Providing parents with more options for educating their children is in the best interest of our students, parents and the state of South Carolina,” said House Education Chairwoman Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort.
Ultimately, the state Supreme Court will decide if the law takes effect.
The bill is almost certain to bring another legal challenge. In a statement soon after the bill passed, the South Carolina Education Association called the bill unconstitutional. The teachers’ advocacy group filed the last lawsuit that led to September’s ruling.
“Diverting these funds from the many for the benefit of a few, by whatever means, undermines our public schools and threatens the quality of education that is vital for all South Carolinians,” the statement read. “Our children deserve better.”
Supporters of the bill are hopeful that drawing from a different revenue source or sending the money through a trustee hired by the state superintendent will make this version constitutional.
That combines ideas from the House, which instituted the idea of a trustee, and the Senate, which wanted to pull from state lottery revenue. The final compromise leaves it for legislators to decide whether to take the money from lottery profits or the state’s general fund.
“We listened, we learned, we took both sides of the (Supreme Court) opinion, and we sat down and wrote what we thought was the best solution,” Erickson said.
Opponents weren’t convinced.
Regardless of the specific source, the money is still public, said Rep. Kambrell Garvin. The state constitution bars public money from directly benefitting private schools.
“It’s a bad idea because it is clearly unconstitutional,” the Columbia Democrat said.
Lottery profits are primarily used to pay for scholarships to colleges — both public and private. High school graduates receiving the scholarships can use them at the South Carolina college of their choice.
Supporters in the Senate argued scholarships for private K-12 schools should be legal too.
Garvin, who spent three years as a school teacher, questioned whether using lottery profits for K-12 scholarships could reduce funding available for college scholarships. That would require legislators to dip into the general fund to provide all the scholarships they qualify for by law.
“I think what will happen is that we’re going to bite off more than we can chew,” Garvin said.
Democrats saw the bill as a step toward universal school choice, which would allow every student in the state to access the money, regardless of income level. The 500% poverty level already incorporates most families in South Carolina, including parents already paying for private schools, House Democrats said.
Garvin also pointed to what opponents say is a lack of accountability over the program. Private schools don’t have the same oversight as public schools, meaning the state will have little control over the quality of education students receive once they use the money, he said.
That could lead to any number of issues for students, he said.
“We are opening Pandora’s Box,” Garvin said.
Skylar Laird covers the South Carolina Legislature and criminal justice issues. Originally from Missouri, she previously worked for The Post and Courier’s Columbia bureau. S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
