Senators changed income cap, scholarship amount; bring it closer to program halted by SC’s high court
By Skylar Laird
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — The Senate passed legislation Thursday that provides up to 15,000 scholarships for private K-12 tuition using lottery profits.
The 32-12 vote, mostly along party lines, capped two weeks of debate that saw friction among Republicans as some tried to make all students eligible. The bill would revive private tuition payments halted by the state Supreme Court last September.
The only Republican to vote “no” was Sen. Shane Martin, a former school board member in Spartanburg District 6 who’s advocated for public schools.
Republicans made the bill a top priority for the session, saying they wanted to renew payments for children stopped by the high court’s ruling a month into the school year. Donations will keep every student in their private schools at least through the third quarter of this school year.
The bill expands both the scholarship amount and who’s eligible. But amendments reined in what would’ve been near-universal expansion.
Instead of a set, $6,000 annual scholarship — as in the law partially thrown out — the amount would equal 90% of the average the state sends to districts per pupil. For the coming school year, that means about $7,700. (As introduced, the bill provided the full average.)
Amendments also brought income eligibility back in line with the existing law.
For the coming school year, up to 10,000 students whose parents earn up to 300% of the federal poverty level can enroll. Eligibility rises to 400% of the poverty level for up to 15,000 students in 2026-27.
That money would come from lottery revenue, instead of pulling from the general fund, which the state Supreme Court found violated the state constitution’s ban on public money directly benefiting private education.
Unlike existing law, the bill would make all students already attending private schools eligible for the state aid.
However, they would have to wait for any potential open spots after the early application window closed for priority groups, which include students below 300% of the poverty level and those in public schools wanting to transfer.
What changed
As introduced, income eligibility would’ve expanded to 600% of the federal poverty level in the 2027-2028 school year, or $187,200 for a family of four. And there was no priority given to poorer students in public schools.
That would allow nearly every student in the state to qualify, said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey.
The purpose of the law passed two years ago was to help poor-to-middle-class children stuck in failing public schools. And 600% is “not middle class. It’s just not,” he said. “I’m not OK with 600% of poverty.
“You’re going to have wealthy kids taking the spots and squeezing out the poor kids,” said the Edgefield Republican.
The same thing will happen in opening up eligibility to everyone in private schools, he said. Private school parents will get guidance on how to sign up. “They’re going to have a huge advantage in the application process,” Massey said.
As a product of public schools whose children attend public schools, Massey said he’s a public school proponent who recognizes some schools are failing children whose parents can’t afford any other option.
“I want to help people who are stuck,” he said. “These are the children we need to help.”
Eventually, senators settled on an amendment proposed by Sen. Michael Johnson, which set priority windows.
“I’m not stopping anyone in a private school from applying,” the Tega Cay Republican said. “I’m saying, ‘Hey, let’s let the poorest kids have an opportunity to apply before the kids in private school.’”
Massey also successfully proposed lowering the scholarship amount, arguing that the $6,000 legislators set in the 2023 law was based on the average cost of private school tuition.
Setting it at 100% of the state per-pupil average, which would be about $8,500 next year and keep rising, “is too much money,” Massey said, arguing that schools would raise tuition to match the state-funded scholarships.
“If you allow for a scholarship of $8,500, the schools are going to charge $8,500,” he said.
Push for universal
Sen. Wes Climer pushed back against his own party leader’s proposed changes, calling on his peers repeatedly to remove all limitations on who can use the money.
“Here’s the bottom line: If you’re against school choice, you are for this amendment,” the Rock Hill Republican said to fellow senators after Massey’s first attempt to pass the changes. “If you are for school choice, you are against this amendment.”
Massey’s initial proposal to change the bill Tuesday failed, with a mix of Republicans and Democrats voting it down. Senators picked up the pieces separately Thursday, adding back in Massey’s decreases in the income cap and scholarship amount.
Toward the end of Thursday’s debate, Climer proposed a change that would get rid of all eligibility requirements in the bill, making the program universal. Senators voted down that plan.
Democrats and Republicans alike rejected proposals from Climer and Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R-Spartanburg, to expand eligibility.
Sen. Darrell Jackson dubbed it the “Shane Beamer” plan, referring to the fact that the University of South Carolina football coach who makes $6.4 million each year would be able to receive the funds to pay his children’s tuition if he so wished.
“What I’m hearing is that the CEO who makes a million dollars a year would never really have school choice in South Carolina because the government isn’t paying for it,” the Hopkins Democrat said.
Republicans focused on the cost of the program as a whole.
If the state instituted universal school choice, which would allow any child to receive money to attend private school, that could cost the state as much as $367 million each year, said Sen. Greg Hembree, the North Myrtle Beach Republican who sponsored the bill.
Climer and Kimbrell also proposed getting rid of the scholarships from the lottery fund and replacing them with a tax credit that would balance out by removing money from the education fund. While that proposal was thrown out as not being germane to the original bill, it caught the interest of some senators.
Pulling from the lottery fund could pass constitutional muster, but a tax credit is “bulletproof,” argued Sen. Tom Davis.
“I don’t know why we’re so determined to do something in a more complicated way,” the Beaufort Republican said.
A simultaneous rally
As the Senate was debating the program, a rally on the Statehouse’s front steps celebrated National School Choice Week.
State Superintendent Ellen Weaver, a longtime proponent of education vouchers, held a sign reading, “choice means hope.”
“Education choice and freedom is on the move in South Carolina,” Weaver said. “Here in South Carolina, we are building the education system of the future.”
Lt. Gov Pamela Evette praised the state for already having a number of choices for students already available, including public, private, charter and virtual schools.
“In South Carolina, we are blessed to have so many options for education,” said Evette, a mother of three.
The ability to transfer to another school is a major deal for students who can benefit from smaller class sizes and more one-on-one attention, said Candance Carroll, a lobbyist for advocacy group Americans for Prosperity South Carolina.
She included her own daughter, a 10-year-old who has autism, among them.
“I needed a school that could meet her unique needs,” Carroll said. “That’s when I understood the power of school choice.”
Reporter Shaun Chornobroff contributed to this report.
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.
