POLICY

This past week was a historic one for school choice in South Carolina. Not only did the State Senate actually take up the issue of school choice in debate, but a small school choice amendment for students with special learning needs passed in a 14-25 vote. 
 

Competition in education has been studied multiple times, and each time the results are the same, competition improves performance. To explain this away different distractors are thrown out, but the results are always a shade of, "competition, created by choice, equaled effective education". Creating competent students is the key to building a successful society. The students of today represent the leaders of tomorrow.
 

Many people think School Choice is a new and progressive scheme. Quite the contrary it has been around in America since at least 1869. Calvin Coolidge, who you may have heard of, was the benefactor of a scholarship to go to St. Johnsbury Academy, where he graduated in 1891. This school has continued to serve students in Vermont on scholarships ever since. 
 

The debates over school choice in South Carolina are largely based on tired political arguments or superfi cial details, rather than on a real understanding of how parents, schools, children and communities actually behave in response to choice. Those people with the greatest need, the impoverished and handicapped, have the least options in our current climate and it is high time that changed. By eliminating or reducing income constraints in choosing schools, school choice would increase options for children from low-income families and children with disabilities.

We talk a lot about the 19 states that have adopted School Choice in the United States, but Americans aren't the only ones proving the success. Sweden instituted a program for School choice in 1992 and the effects prove that School Choice works, and it works wonders. In Sweden they have seen a boon to education, studies are proving that school success is directly tied to choice and competition. Their status before the switch may sound familiar though, 

The Education Oversight Committee (EOC) is pushing hard for reforms in South Carolina's literacy programs. Too many children are not reading at grade level and if allowed to continue the numbers will not reach the EOC's. Students are struggling and the EOC is beginning to look towards one particular state to solve the literacy woes, Florida. 
 
"Many of the ideas discussed Monday are modeled after programs that the state Florida has enacted, committee members said."
 

South Carolina's Education Oversight Committee (EOC) just issued a "Wake up Call" for South Carolina schools, emphasizing that South Carolina needs some "transformational change" in its education system. That's certainly the case, although to most bureaucrats that will spell one word. Money.

What should transformational change look like in our education system? While South Carolina has struggled to answer that question through increased funding, new tests and "refocus on reading programs, other states have done something that actually works. 

 
Karen Martin of the Spartanburg Tea Party is reporting that a handful of State Representatives have turned their all-knowing attentions on homeschoolers in South Carolina. New legislation (H.3478) would require homeschooling families in South Carolina to 1.) participate in state approved standardized tests through the district, and 2.) register the names of the homeschooled students with the state.
 

School Choice is wildly popular with parents, saves taxpayers money, and is proven to increase student achievement and reduce inequality. 

Despite the fact that school choice is currently working around the country, some detractors continue to make the bizarre claim that school choice discourages school and classroom accountability. 

Click here for the video. 

Today, legislation was introduced in the State Senate that will provide families in South Carolina with unprecedented freedom in deciding where they send their children to school.

The bill is patterned on legislation that has been successfully implemented in states like Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona.