POPS-Parents Offering Parents Support

School Choice is Pushing Forward

In mid-May members of the SC Senate Education Committee voted to "recommit" S.520 to the K-12 Education Subcommittee.

Some in the press (taking cue from taxpayer funded education bureaucrats and unions) called this the "end" of the Education Opportunity Act.

That's simply wrong.

At the meeting, Committee Chairman Senator Courson (R-Richland) explained that Senator Ford (D-Charleston), the bill's primary sponsor, sent a letter requesting that no action to be taken in committee and for his bill to be recommitted to the subcommittee.

Senator Ford, an outspoken Choice advocate, felt that S.520 wouldn't get a fair shake if debated in committee based on other factors around the Statehouse. There were only 4 days left in the regular legislative session, judicial elections were held the day before, and the legislature was trying to wrap up the budget that week.

Senator Ford used his years of legislative experience to implement a strategy that looked out for the future of South Carolina's children.

Looking toward the second half of the 2009-10 biannual legislative session, there is much work to be done and several avenues through which School Choice will continue to move forward.:

* The Senate K-12 Education Subcommittee will be reconsidering S.520

* The House Ways & Means Committee will be considering the similar H.3802

* Lawmakers in both chambers may introduce Choice as an amendment to another bill.

In the coming months we all need to keep pressure on State Lawmakers. Those who have voted for Choice deserve our support and encouragement. Those opposed, or who have not taken a stance, must be contacted and spoken to about the pressing need for real educational reform. We also need to keep a steady stream of letters flowing to daily and weekly newspaper editors.

Parents who support real School Choice are more excited than ever. S.520 and H.3802 offer something that years of one-size-fits-all government directed "reform" has failed to provide. It will not just "rescue" individual students trapped in persistently failing public schools, but also reform those schools by encouraging and rewarding responsible parental engagement across South Carolina.

To keep up-to-date on School Choice visit www.thevoiceforschoolchoice.com

Recent posts include:

Editorial by Randy Page from the Times and Democrat

More Black Lawmakers Supporting School Choice

Editorial by Shonda Simpkins from the State Newspaper

Superintendent Jim Rex supports Student Scholarships!?