Court won't allow public money to be spent on private schools in South Carolina

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 5:16 PM EDT, September 11, 2024


COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s law allowing parents to spend taxpayer money on private schools violates the constitution, the state’s highest court ruled Wednesday. The 3-2 ruling prohibits paying tuition or fees with “Education Scholarship Trust Funds,” but it does allow parents to use that money for indirect private expenses like tutoring, textbooks and other educational material.

Nearly 3,000 students have already been awarded $1,500 each under the program. The court won’t require it be paid back if spent on private school tuition or fees. The case was argued before the high court in March, well before the money was distributed. The South Carolina law is part of a nationwide movement. Groups that study the programs report that at least 16 states have some form of the vouchers.

The South Carolina case centered on part of the state constitution that says “no money shall be paid from public funds nor shall the credit of the State or any of its political subdivisions be used for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.”

Lawyers who think the program is illegal said giving the private schools public money is a direct benefit even if the program allows students to pay fees or transportation to attend a public school outside of their district.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-private-school-vouchers-law-ruling-fd29222a45dddb35bd90616a61117f3b

[UpInArms]

1. Separation of church and state

I am sick to death of this line being blurred and crossed … good on South Carolina.

[Hotler]

2. Good! The Christian right can have bake sales and sell candy bars to fund their schools. nt

[flying_wahini]

3. Now all we have to do is go after those 16 other states.

IMO they shouldn’t get One Penny even if for transportation or books.
This is encouraging though.

[travelingthrulife]

4. Especially since they abuse their tax-exempt status all the time.

Trump and GOP rallies in their churches.

[csziggy]

6. Yes! And it's not only church owned schools

Here in Florida, a LOT of tax money goes to private non-sectarian schools, many of which are scams. I don't remember the company names, but there are private school corporations that pay themselves (in the guise of being a separate corporation) a lot of money to lease their facilities. Or they use public funds to rebuild their buildings, then sell them for significant profit so the student and community don't get the benefit of those improved facilities.

In addition:

No matter how you look at it, vouchers undermine strong public education and student opportunity. They take scarce funding from public schools—which serve 90 percent of students—and give it to private schools—institutions that are not accountable to taxpayers.

This means public school students have less access to music instruments and science equipment, modern technology and textbooks, and after-school programs.

Moreover, there is ZERO statistical significance that voucher programs improve overall student success, and some programs have even shown to have a NEGATIVE effect for students receiving a voucher.

Furthermore, vouchers have been shown to not support students with disabilities, they fail to protect the human and civil rights of students, and they exacerbate segregation.
https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/action-center/our-issues/vouchers

Since many private and church schools were started to avoid segregation, this is a severe problem. Public funds should only go to schools that adhere to the same standards as public schools must have.

[tsSleepyTimeDwnSout]

5. my experience

i worked as an it tech in the public schools in sc 25 years ago.

first off: there is ALOT of massive wealth in private hands in sc, much of it originally acquired thru slavery. that ill-gotten wealth base persists.

i worked fr th largest county in sc, 35 public schools. because of the way ps money is distributed in that state, Stratford High Scool had 4 or 5 30-seat computer labs, with state-of-the-art Dell PCs.

St. Matthews High School, some 30 or so miles away had, i kid you not, one lab with about 25 ibm ps/2 s, equivalent to a mac II from the early eighties or so.

In an incredible coincidence, Stratford served the mostly white, wealthy side of the city of Summerville.

St Matthews served the mostly black, rural population of St. Matthews. This was a repeating pattern across the state.

Now that i'm old, having been born in sc and spent half my life there, i have come to this irrefutable conclusion: to be a Republican "conservative" in sc you have to be, at heart, a really bad and empathy-devoid person.

period.

God bless James Clyburn. What a way to spend your whole life, resisting those people.

[P-Nutt]

7. Here In South Carolina

The sudden and rapid explosion of both Charter and Private Schools has essentially relegated the Public School System into a segregated culture where only the poor and unathletic children are left to seek their educational experiences. Many Private High Schools use Endowed Scholarships to strip away athletes with the promise of becoming the South Carolina equivalent of IMG Academy in Florida. This also promotes Colleges and Universities to only look at these Private Schools for their selected Scholarships, Grants, and other financial incentives. This is a very clever way of keeping the upper class families separated from the poor, and giving a much better chance for advanced secondary education. Closing down this descrpancy is a must if we have any chance at leveling the field for students of all economic backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, and athletic abilities.