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PTA Assaulting School Choice in South Carolina

By: Breeanne Howe (Diary)  |  March 25th, 2012 at 07:44 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Promoted from the diaries by Jeff.

As a mother of four, the first of which entered public school last year, keeping up with my children’s education is extremely important to me.  I’ve heard the stories of children fearing the end of the world due to global warming and seen the history books that exclude any Republican or Conservative from the important events that have shaped our country.  My husband and I moved to a small town in South Carolina due in part to the notoriety of the schools.  I immediately joined the PTA, looking forward to communicating and working with other parents to help our children achieve the high standards to which we hold them accountable.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case, this PTA had an agenda and used its access to my email address to push that agenda.

Action needed
Please contact your House representative by 1 p.m., Tuesday, March 20, 2012 and urge him to vote against the tuition tax credit/voucher bill, House bill 4894 (see contact information below).

Background

Having completed the budget, the full House may take up the tuition tax credit/voucher bill this week. To see a longer summary of the bill from the March 14 Day At The Capitol handout, click here. Basically, the bill would
Provide a state income tax deduction of up to $4,000 for tuition (fees for attending the school and school?related transportation) paid by a parent or legal guardian for their child or ward to attend an independent school defined as a school, other than a public school.

Provide a state income tax deduction of up to $1,000 for tuition (fees for attending the school and school?related transportation) paid by a parent or legal guardian for their child or ward to attend a public school outside the child’s or ward’s resident school district.

Provide a state income tax deduction of up to $2,000 per home school student per year for instruction related expenditures.

Provide a dollar-for-dollar credit on state income tax, insurance premium taxes or bank license fees for contributions made to non-profit scholarship funding organizations that would provide “grants” to low-income students in public schools to attend an qualifying independent school.

After providing this fairly benign review of some of the specifics related to H.4894, the email turned into what amounted to a Democrat party spam email as the PTA laid out the position echoed by the South Carolina School Board Association (SCSBA) which apparently the school PTA is on board with.

Position statement

SCSBA opposes state or federally-mandated efforts to directly or indirectly subsidize elementary or secondary private, religious or home schools with public funds.


After giving contact info for representatives, the PTA helpfully  provides talking points for any parents who don’t have any idea why they should care about this.

Talking points

How can the General Assembly consider a bill that would result in a loss of $37 million in state revenues (just in the first year alone) when:

public schools have had their funding cut by more than $700 million;

the base student cost is presently at $1,880 per student but should be at $2,790 per student;

fully funding the BSC would require some $600 million

the state cannot meet existing obligation to adequately fund vital state agency and services, including law enforcement, healthcare, local government funds, etc.

Tuition tax credit/voucher programs are unaffordable, unaccountable to taxpayers and unproven.

The proposal is inconsistent with recent calls for comprehensive tax reforms, including the elimination of some sales and service tax exemptions by creating four more exemptions.

The proposal is inconsistent with conservative principles including the creation of a government entitlement program for private schoolers and home schoolers and grows government by adding new duties for the Department of Revenue and the Education Oversight Committee. Funding for public schools must be a top priority! Until we meet our financial commitment to public school students, there must be no consideration for a plan that would divert public tax dollars to private schools for tuition.

Even a sample message to send!

Sample message

Dear Representative :

I urge you to vote against the private school tuition tax credit/deduction/voucher bill, H.4894. The bill’s negative fiscal impact to the state’s general fund of $37 million is staggering when our state cannot meet its existing obligations to K-12 education and other vital state services, including local government funding. In addition to the significant funding cuts to education in recent years, the base student cost (BSC) under the Education Finance Act is presently at $1,880 per student when it should be $2,790 per student by state law. In fact, fully funding the BSC would require some $600 million.

Finally, lawmakers’ recent calls for the need to eliminate certain tax exemptions and loopholes and supported by businesses, citizens, and educators seems to contradict a proposal that would create yet another special-interest tax exemption through for paying tuition to a private school or for homeschooling with no accountability equivalent to the public schools. Another tax credit program would only add to the horribly unbalanced tax system already in existence in South Carolina.

In addition to emailing us, you can see the whole thing at their FaceBook page.

Immediately I wrote back to them, including the school principal and the local chairman of the Republican party, expecting quickly to receive an apology and a promise not to misuse the PTA email privileges again; or at the least a response from the Republican leader that he would look into the matter.  Apparently, however, the issue was so important that no one even bothered to email me back.  While it’s never happened to me before, I am left to assume that inserting one’s personal political agenda into official school emails is so commonplace that it is unworthy of discussion.  It was a big surprise for me personally.  Our area in South Carolina is very red and our schools are among the best in the state.  Surely, I thought, no one local would have a problem with people in other areas working to provide the best education for their children.  Once again, I sadly underestimated the selfishness of Democrats.

The School Choice Bill in my home state of South Carolina, H.4894, is the latest in a decade long battle to give parents control over the education of their children.  While the SC Board of Education chooses to use my tax money to advocate that each child needs $2,790 allotted to ensure a successful education, one needn’t look any further than right over our border to see that more money does not equate to better results.  In Charlotte, North Carolina inner city schools receive $12,000 per child.  With that money, the schools decided to spend $10 million to buy iPads for their classrooms; after spending $1.2 million to purchase iPads for administrators of course.  Money spent, despite the fact that even the NY Times had to admit that increased technology has not proven to increase test scores.  Additionally, the latest research out of Harvard University indicates what many conservatives have always known: a school that cultivates a culture focused on student achievement and high academic expectations (rather than small classroom size, meritless teacher pay & more money per student) yields a higher level of academic success.  Perhaps it’s time to bring back the red markers?

As for the lack of response from my local Republican party chairman, maybe he’s friends with Jenny Horne – the Republican representative who continuously crosses the aisle to stand in the way of education reform in South Carolina.

Once again, South Carolina Representative Jenny Horne (R-94) is standing in the way of statewide education reform. In a last ditch effort to block education reform bill H.4894, Representative Horne is attempting to delay a vote on the House floor until after the filing deadline for state house elections in order to prevent the vote from being an “election litmus test” for conservative legislators.

I’m not planning on taking my kids out their public school but I fully support the right of other parents to choose a different option; and they shouldn’t have to pay for my children in addition to theirs.  School Choice is something that people from both sides of the aisle should be able to agree on as it does nothing but promote competition for tax dollars and gives families much needed choices.  I’m fortunate that my kids attend a school that gets high marks, but many schools do not.  Let’s stop rewarding them and focus on what’s best for the children: having options in education.

Help end the public education monopoly.  Please contact Rep. Jenny Horne and tell her to stop delaying, stop playing political games and start thinking about the children of South Carolina.  If we can get this going in SC we can get the ball rolling in other states too.

CALL REP. JENNY HORNE – 803.212.6871. TELL HER TO DO THE RIGHT THING!!

Here are the reps that were targeted by the PTA email. Call these state reps to let them know they ARE doing the right thing!

Call State Rep. Ralph Norman at 803.212.6888

Call Deborah Long at 803.212.6874

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COMMENTS

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  • http://www.spartanburgteaparty.org karenmartin

    The Spartanburg Tea party held a school choice rally last month, and through the use of FOIA we learned the SCEA emailed school officials in our county to crash our event.

    http://www.spartanburgteaparty.org/2012/03/25/the-scea-emails-school-system-employees-to-crash-our-school-choice-rally/

    There was also an effort by Occupy to get folks to crash (it failed)

    http://www.spartanburgteaparty.org/2012/02/05/a-small-group-of-350-right-wing-libertarians-gather-in-cleveland-park/

    We also used the FOIA Act to surface emails sent from educrats using public school resources/time to send emails to teachers etc. using their public school email lists/addresses, during work hours, and request them to urge legislators to vote ?no? on the school choice bill.

    http://www.spartanburgteaparty.org/2012/02/29/your-tax-dollars-pay-for-educrats-to-lie-about-the-school-choice-bill/

    It is indeed a fight here in SC to get our Republic House and Republican Senate to give parents the choice on how to educate their kids, use free market competition to raise our education standards across our state!

  • semperf1re

    Down here by us in rural Northern New Mexico, it is the hippies who home school and the conservatives who stick by the community, and participate in the public schools.
    The homeschoolers I know have no attendance ethis, and most dropped from the public school because they are offended by all the Christians teachers who wont toe the PC line the libs would demand.

  • http://boldcolor.blogspot.com/ Paula

    I live in Ohio and my local school board (almost all GOP) has been hostile to school choice. The reason, of course, is that their kids attend the public school and they want the money for their school. They also feel very personally offended when someone chooses to educate their kids somewhere else.

    I sat at a GOP meeting and watched the Republican school board candidates give their speeches promising to raise everyone’s taxes via a tax levy. They didn’t mention the bloated union contracts that comprise the majority of the budget or that they would side with the unions in the upcoming statewide union reform referendum. The GOP almost unanimously endorsed them.

    So many people- conservative people – have been indoctrinated on the school choice issue by the union-dominated schools their children attend. They can do little more than spout off ignorant talking points about “siphoning off money from the public schools” that don’t begin to explain the complexities of the issue.

    We’ve got to do better at educating our friends and neighbors about school choice and more importantly, to elect choice-friendly state and local school boards that are not in bed with the unions.

  • mistel

    By now, most of us know that public education is like beating a dead horse. Generally, scores are low, teachers are socialist, administrators are New Age, other students are bad influences, and indeed, students are killed at a pretty fast rate. Parents who would not put themselves into a situation where they are potential targets have no problem with sending their children to such a cesspool and killing field. There is nothing in place to make anyone think that things will get better. If you send your child to a public school, expect anything and everything and that includes regulations adverse to your child’s best interest.

  • dudette

    in conjunction with other parents so the burdens/benefits are split; that would be my choice. bypass the cesspool.

  • bwilliamson

    No one should have to enter a system where they see children getting the lack of a proper education. No matter what the test scores say I am forced to support the school system which is not preparing children for the future and is only educating them to take tests, not to learn. Children are forced into learning lousy science, terrible moral values and a declining cultural model.

    What’s a parent to do?

    My wife and I looked at all options available when we began the search for education possibilities just before my daughter went into K-5. We wanted only the best for her and what would give her the biggest advantage in life that we could provide. We both work, so homeschooling was not an option.

    What are we willing to sacrifice to see that she gets that chance?

    So, private school it is. We pay extra due to our normal tuition and then we are taxed on top of that for a service we don’t use and do not believe in. We went to a Christian school that teaches the classical methodology to learning. They start teaching Latin in 3rd grade and biblical values and learning are intertwined with all subjects. My daughter is now in 5th grade and is nothing but amazing with what she has learned so far. Since I study with her, I have picked up a fair share of Latin also. Never to old to learn.

    Everyone deserves the chance to send their children to get the best education they can find for their children. Why support something that is failing? Especially for someone so important to us. Our children are the future and they are being educated poorly.

    Where I send my daughter.

    http://www.greenvilleclassical.com/
    We are Greenville Classical Academy. We are classical, educating our students using a three-stage liberal arts curriculum compelling our students to develop a well-trained mind.

    We are Christian, educating our students to glorify God by integrating their faith with education.

  • http://www.tooncesthecat.wordpress.com tooncesthecat

    Let’s be clear. This is not a matter of school choice. This is a matter of allocation of tax dollars extracted by force from the citizens of South Carolina (and all other states. Your arguments in favor of this legislation are essentially two. Let’s consider them.

    “I fully support the right of other parents to choose a different option; and they shouldn?t have to pay for my children in addition to theirs.”

    I don’t have children and, yet, I am required to pay state income taxes, local property taxes, and state and local option sales taxes to support sending your child and others to public schools. The notion that a parent who chooses to send their child to private school or to home school their child or that and individual or corporation that freely contributes their money to fund private school should somehow be “entitled” to a tax exemption or tax credit is fundamentally unfair to me and thousands of other tax payers who don’t have children. If the state has an extra $16 million laying around then they should reduce everyone taxes, rather than carving out a new entitlement for a few people.

    “School Choice is something that people from both sides of the aisle should be able to agree on as it does nothing but promote competition for tax dollars and gives families much needed choices.”

    This legislation is not about families having choices. Parents can choose, as you do, to send their children to public schools. Parents can choose to send their children to private schools, and my brother-in-law is headmaster at one these private schools. Parents can choose to homeschool their children, as many of the parents at my church choose to do. We already have choices. What you are advocating is not choice, but allocation of tax dollars, which will result in everyone paying more of their money to the state in order to reward a small percentage of the population.

    South Carolina is indeed a very red state. And the desire to have lower taxes is the primary reason that the Republican-controlled legislature has consistently refused to pass this new entitlement program for the past ten years.

  • http://www.spartanburgteaparty.org karenmartin

    In the U.S. Supreme Court?s recent ruling in ACSTO v. Winn, the court held that money spent and claimed as a credit against one?s taxes is private money, not government spending.

    Other taxpayers aren?t harmed by the choice of those claiming credits because the government isn?t spending collective tax revenue. In other words, the taxpayer, not the state, is presumed to own the fruits of his own labor.

    So this is not “allocation of tax dollars” as you claim. These are tax exemptions, the same type of tax exemptions claimed for a variety of uses … solar panels for example. These monies at issue in South Carolina’s school choice bill are earned monies of private individuals, not yet collected by the government, therefore not part of the state’s tax pool.

  • bobmark

    Who payed for you to go to school? Bet it was a bunch of people who didn’t have children. When/if you have kids, are YOU going to fully fund their schooling, or are you going to accept the thousands of dollars contributed by people who don’t have children?

  • sccrenny

    in South Carolina wouldn’t change one iota, tooncesthecat. A child is removed from the public school system, their parents keep $280 (IF they are in the top income bracket!) and the remainder of the $12-13k the state currently spends per student remains in the public school system. No skin off of your nose whether you have kids in school or not. It’s actually a windfall for public schools. This legislation is about EXACTLY allowing more people to have a choice. Low income parents currently cannot afford anything except public schools but for the tax deduction and scholarships created by this legislation.Excellent education- it’s not just for the wealthy any more.

  • http://boldcolor.blogspot.com/ Paula

    I’m curious about your political philosophy. Are you some sort of extreme libertarian who believes it should be every man (or child) for himself and the government should not be involved in the education of children at all?

    Or are you closer to the Democrats, who believe the union-controlled government schools are the only ones capable of providing a proper education for a child? It appears that you don’t have a problem with “allocation of tax dollars” and “entitlement programs” that pay for a government behemoth that year after year after year continues to fail millions of children.

    Surely you must know that in many major cities in this country, graduation rates are below 50%. In Ohio, 4 in 10 high school grads need remedial classes if they attend college. This is true even for those who graduate from schools that receive “Excellent” ratings from the state.

    Are you OK with this?

    How about we attach the funding to the child and let the parents decide which school would be the best place for their child to learn? Let the market decide which schools are effective and the crappy ones will cease to exist. That is, unless you don’t believe in market forces and prefer a top-down government model that is controlled by union bosses (see Waiting for Superman).

  • sccrenny

    as is probably the case in most states, the money isn’t “assigned” to the child. In other words the cost per student is between $12-13k just because the number of students divided by the funds the state spends (including federal funds) for education comes out to that. At a 7% top tax rate the $4k tax CREDIT means that $280 stays with the parent to spend on their education choice for their child. The remainder of the $12-13k stays in the bloated, unefficient, incompetent public school system. The current bill is watered down from a $1500 tax CREDIT as proposed last year (and tabled by 16 RINO’s even though School Choice is in the SCGOP platform). So if you think public schools are the be-all and end-all of educational excellence you will be glad to know that there is one less child to educate and the remaining $12k+ is spent on the victims- I mean students- of the public school system. For goodness’ sake, can’t you set that $280 and that child free?

  • norris

    If these schools had the extra money would they fire the low paid teachers and replace them with higher paid good teachers?

  • sccrenny

    Change the fourth line to read “the $4k tax DEDUCTION”. It is a $4k reduction in taxable income rather than a $1500 tax credit as proposed last year.