SC S.39 ESA (voucher) bill

SC S.39 ESA (voucher) bill

Time Range For Action Alert: 
January 16, 2023 to January 21, 2023

your voice matters

We need YOUR phone call —and your power as a constituent. A revived Education Scholarship Account (ESA) bill is speeding through the South Carolina Senate. An ESA, like a voucher, is a strategy for diverting public money to private schools.
 
Debate on S.39 Educational Scholarship Trust Fund will begin on Tuesday, and some version of this bill is likely to pass by the end of the week.

The bill provides $6000 per student for 5,000 students in its first year and creates a system for continuing and expanding the practice of providing public funds for private educational services
 

The ask

Call your senator now! 

Let your personal Senator know your concerns.

Taking points

  • Accountability: Keep the requirement that all students who receive ESA funds take the same assessment as students in public schools and charter schools. 
  • Accessibility: Support an amendment that would prohibit an educational service provider from denying admission to an ESA student based on sex, disability status, or academic aptitude.
  • Choice: Instead, use the funds to improve public schools and provide additional transportation options for public enrollment systems.

More information 

Accountability

The Senate Education Committee made a good decision last week in reverting to an earlier version that requires all students who receive ESA funds to take the same assessment as students in public schools and charter schools. 

This is desirable because it is the only valid way to compare achievement in private schools with achievement in public schools. No norm-referenced test will suffice, and the State has the responsibility to evaluate the results of any expenditure of public funds.

Urge your senator to keep this provision and to vote against any amendments that would permit weaker alternatives. 

Accessibility

Students who attend private schools succeed academically because private schools can be selective. They can deny admission to students with poor academic records or behavioral issues. Their students typically come from families with higher average incomes and more education. 

The current bill would allow private schools that accept ESA funds to continue to deny admission to many less fortunate students that the public schools are required to serve. Although the current bill prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin, it allows private schools to reject students based on sex, disability status, or academic aptitude.

Ask your senator to support an amendment that would prohibit an education service provider from denying admission to an ESA student based on any of these factors..

Choice

South Carolina’s public schools already provide some choices, and the state could use the same funds that are being proposed for ESA to improve public schools and provide additional transportation options to enhance public open enrollment systems

Bill details

S.29 Education Scholarship Trust Fund

Issues referenced by this action alert: 
Education