SC high court rejects Republican vouchers, says taxpayer money
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court has struck down the state’s fledgling K-12 voucher program as unconstitutional, leaving Republican leaders scrambling to figure out what to tell parents who have already received the money.
The state’s high court ruled in a 3-2 split that taxpayer money cannot be used to pay for private school tuition. What that will mean for the nearly 3,000 students already enrolled is uncertain. The state education department did not immediately respond.
Majority Judge Garry Hill wrote that the plans already in place this school year violate the state constitution’s prohibition on public funds directly benefiting private schools.
The decision is a major and shocking upset for South Carolina’s governing Republicans, who believe the two-decade-old law will be upheld.
Hill’s opinion ended by casting doubt on a dissent by Chief Justice John Kittredge, whose recent promotion was seen as making a court that has traditionally aligned itself with the Legislature more conservative.
Nebraska Supreme Court investigates whether school choice law can be repealed via ballot measure
“Opponents claimed that our decision ‘pulled the rug out’ from under the feet of the General Assembly and ‘ultimately, the feet of the students the law was designed to serve.’ Our duty is to serve the Constitution, which is our nation’s supreme policy.” Our obligation, therefore, is not to draw the rug under the rug over an obvious constitutional basis, no matter how inconvenient that basis may be,” Hill wrote.
“The whole concept behind the Constitution and the rule of law is that the ends do not justify the means,” he continued.
Hill was joined by former Chief Justice Don Beatty, who retired this summer, and retired Judge James Lockemy, who is handling the case.
Their ruling was consistent with attorneys for the South Carolina Education Association and the NAACP.
“We are pleased that the court has confirmed that public funds can only be used for the public benefit,” SCEA President Sherry East said. “We have been anxiously awaiting this decision and we are pleased with the outcome.”
However, she added, “My next concern is that this will happen again in January.”
The law, which Republicans celebrated with much fanfare last year, ends an effort that began with then-Gov. Mark Sanford, 2004.
It provides $6,000 scholarships to cover tuition, tutoring, transportation and other K-12 school-related expenses. The law caps participation in first-year Medicaid-eligible students at 5,000. Actual participation rate is lower: Of the more than 7,900 applicants this academic year, 2,880 K-12 students Qualified and approved.
Supporters believe they have found a way around the constitutional prohibition on tax dollars directly benefiting private education by putting the money into a “trust fund” for parents to distribute. The first $1,500 allotment has been transferred to each student’s account.
But the majority opinion rejected the state’s argument that the direct beneficiaries were students, not private schools.
“Tuition benefits directly subsidize the educational function of private schools,” Hill wrote. And “the scale of the tuition benefit is huge.”
Republican leaders have no contingency plans for how to handle such a ruling. Unresolved questions include whether the state will need to compensate and, if so, whether private schools or parents will have to pay.
“Many families shed tears of joy when their children receive scholarships, and today’s Supreme Court decision leaves those families with tears of devastating devastation,” said State Superintendent Ellen Weaver, who spoke before her election. Led a group that has been pushing for school choice.
“The initial filing and subsequent ruling of this case, midway through the first quarter of the new school year, wreaked havoc on the students involved and their families,” she said in a statement.
House Republican leaders are so confident the ruling will be in their favor that they pushed legislation in the chamber earlier this year that would Expand eligibility to all studentsregardless of the parents’ income. However, the bill did not become law. Senators called it premature and never accepted it.
House Speaker Murrell Smith is one of the bill’s co-sponsors. expansion billcalling the ruling disappointing.
The Sumter Republican noted that there are similar scholarship programs for college students and poor 4-year-olds. Lottery-supported scholarships are available at any public or private college. Likewise, students eligible for state-paid full-time 4K education may attend public or approved private kindergartens. But these popular schemes have never been challenged and have not been part of court decisions.
“This ruling will not only deny choice to countless families in our state and prevent many deserving children from accessing educational opportunities, but it will also jeopardize current programs, including higher education that are vital to South Carolinians,” Smith said in a statement. Education and preschool.
Gov. Henry McMaster also cited the plans as one of the reasons his office asked the state Supreme Court to quickly reconsider its ruling.
“The Supreme Court’s decision could have devastating consequences for thousands of low-income families who relied on these scholarships last month to keep their children in school,” he said in a statement, adding that he hoped they could reverse the decision. , “so that children can attend school.”
This article was first published inSouth Carolina Daily Gazetteis the Nebraska Examiner’s sister site in the national newsroom network.
