South Carolina moved a step closer to starting a pilot program that creates scholarships of up to $5,000 for low-income students for tuition, fees and textbooks at private schools.
The House Ways and Means Committee approved the bill Wednesday. It would move $75 million from the state’s contingency reserve fund to start the program. The bill would allow for $1.5 million to be used for administration to begin the program, which would sunset after three years.
The bill moves on to the full House for a vote.
“The pilot is a place for us to start,” said Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort.
Any South Carolina student age 5 to 18 who is Medicaid eligible or the family’s income is 185% of the poverty level is eligible for what is being called the Student Flexibility in Education Act.
Up to 500 children of active-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces also are eligible for the program.
Erickson said parents voiced their interest in the program, which wouldn’t take money away from the public school system and will be funded separately.
Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, voiced concerns over the bill because it does not include funding for transportation to school, an issue in the state’s rural and urban areas.
“Any pilot that does not include transportation is not a serious pilot,” she said.
Cobb-Hunter said she preferred the $75 million go directly to public schools.
“Most of the parents I am hearing from are complaining about adequate funding in the public schools,” she said.
If more than 5,000 applications arrive for the program, a lottery system would be used to determine which students receive the scholarships.
