Education
URGENT CALL TO ACTION!
SC Senate poised to turn the "school choice" vouchers against private education!!!
SC Senate poised to turn the "school choice" vouchers against private education!!!
Updates January 31 shown in yellow.
January 28, 2025:
Senate bill 62 has been passed in the senate and is now headed to the house.
This bill significantly changes the provisions of the "school choice" bill that passed as a voucher program in 2022 and subsequently was found to be unconstitutional by the SC Supreme Court. (Many of us knew this was a failed initiative from the beginning, as our constitution protects private education from public control.) The new "school choice" bill, pushed through committees before the legislative session even began, is a monster and we need you to CALL OR TEXT YOUR HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE NOW to tell him/her to STOP THE BILL. The only way our government can possibly increase "school choice" without capturing and hurting private education, is through a DIRECT TAX CREDIT for parents of privately educated children. They will refuse to pick up the direct tax credit bill unless the private school community demands it!
Here are some of the provisions of S. 62:
Senate bill 62 has been passed in the senate and is now headed to the house.
This bill significantly changes the provisions of the "school choice" bill that passed as a voucher program in 2022 and subsequently was found to be unconstitutional by the SC Supreme Court. (Many of us knew this was a failed initiative from the beginning, as our constitution protects private education from public control.) The new "school choice" bill, pushed through committees before the legislative session even began, is a monster and we need you to CALL OR TEXT YOUR HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE NOW to tell him/her to STOP THE BILL. The only way our government can possibly increase "school choice" without capturing and hurting private education, is through a DIRECT TAX CREDIT for parents of privately educated children. They will refuse to pick up the direct tax credit bill unless the private school community demands it!
Here are some of the provisions of S. 62:
- Takes money from the SC Education Lottery, instead of state tax revenues, to pay for the voucher or scholarship programs.
- DOES NOT include home education students.
- Pays for tuition and fees for a non-profit (vs. independent) education provider AND for ANY (including public) online education service provider OR course.
- Pays transportation cost for student transfers to a public school outside of their district.
- Pays for textbooks, curriculum, instructional materials and tutoring by ANY (public or private) education service provider.
- Pays for other, undefined contracted teaching services or education classes approved by the SC Department of Education.
- Pays for approved contracted services from a public school district, or a public charter school including individual classes, after school tutoring services, transportation, or fees or costs associated with participation in extracurricular activities.
- Pours new money into public and charter programs and gives the control of any participating program to the Department of Education.
- Makes the Department of Education (which is supposed to be a state-funded cabinet agency) a major beneficiary of the Lottery.
- First come, first serve. Only 10k public, private, and charter school students eligible for scholarships during the first year (2025/26), 15k eligible thereafter, and families must be below 300% of poverty level the first year, 400% thereafter. (A tax credit would benefit ALL families, without an application process or supervision by the Dept. of Education).
- Requires education service providers (schools) to reapply every year. During which time laws and regulations regarding participation criteria will change.
- Requires grades 3-8 scholarship students to either take the ANNUAL SC Ready or SC Ready alternative OR they must take an (approved by the department) nationally norm-reference assessment THREE TIMES PER YEAR. Teaching to the test is how even the most independent thinking teachers wind up teaching what the state wants them to because the kids have to do well on these "standardized" tests. Grades 9-12 must take a DOE approved assessment test also.
- Service providers must be TRAINED BY THE DEPARTMENT to administer tests and each student's data must be reported to the department.
- Section 59-150-355 of the code specifies EXACTLY how much money goes towards each recipient higher education program. There has been NO effort to specify how the allocations will be reconfigured to include this very significant change and obviously some or all of the existing programs must suffer for it. According to the LAW, ANY BILL that changes the language of this section MUST be a separate bill and NOT included in the yearly appropriations bill according to
With the passage of this bill, there will be cuts in funding for the:
Palmetto Fellows and Hope Scholarships
National Guard Tuition Repayment Program
Technology Grants
School for the Deaf and Blind
Grants for Historically Black Colleges
Higher Education Teacher Grants
to name a few. Private education program directors, teachers, and parents need to understand that we are moving in the direction of communism. The propaganda surrounding the "vouchers" passed in 2023 was used to get a globalist version of universal education's foot in the door. CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND TELL HIM/HER TO VOTE NO TO THIS BILL.
Palmetto Fellows and Hope Scholarships
National Guard Tuition Repayment Program
Technology Grants
School for the Deaf and Blind
Grants for Historically Black Colleges
Higher Education Teacher Grants
to name a few. Private education program directors, teachers, and parents need to understand that we are moving in the direction of communism. The propaganda surrounding the "vouchers" passed in 2023 was used to get a globalist version of universal education's foot in the door. CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND TELL HIM/HER TO VOTE NO TO THIS BILL.
Go to https://www.spartanburgcounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/14920/Delegation-Members-Contact-Information to find the contact information for your representative and call and/or text them immediately! Leave comments about your opposition to the bill on the SC Freedom Caucus Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/SCFreedomcaucus/
You may also share the following video with friends and family to warn them about the dangers of accepting the tax money for their child's private school education! https://thenewamerican.com/its-a-trap-bringing-homeschools-christian-education-under-control/
You may also share the following video with friends and family to warn them about the dangers of accepting the tax money for their child's private school education! https://thenewamerican.com/its-a-trap-bringing-homeschools-christian-education-under-control/
If you are wondering why Republican legislators would acquiesce to the demands for "school choice" despite the fact that this bill will indeed hurt, rather than help, their constituents, please text 844-508-0300 or email us at [email protected]. We will help you discover why conservative legislators NEED the Christian community to get more involved in their local government and how to do so from a biblical perspective.
Resources
Learn about the history of the public school system. The system isn't broken; it was intended to create a dependent, Marxist thinking society in a gradual manner, through the indoctrination of our children.
Suggested Reading: Indoctrinating Our Children to Death by Alex Newman, Battle for the American Mind by Pete Hegseth, and Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto.
Suggested Reading: Indoctrinating Our Children to Death by Alex Newman, Battle for the American Mind by Pete Hegseth, and Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto.
Help us protect the children! Contact us if you're interested in helping with Release Time, running for school board, or learning more about the fight in Columbia against the particular threats to SC public school children.
NOW IS THE TIME to REMOVE your CHILD(REN)!
Find a good Christian school or seek help from the SC Academic Advantage Association to get started with homeschooling and to register your children TODAY! You CANNOT trust the State to protect, teach, and mold your children into the disciples of Christ you want them to be. We have found that trying to redeem the public education system is an impossible task and that raising up your own children in the way they should go is a biblical directive. YOU CAN make it happen! The homeschool community is here to help and we are excited to help open your eyes to the benefits and opportunities that await your family!
Additional Resources:
Find a good Christian school or seek help from the SC Academic Advantage Association to get started with homeschooling and to register your children TODAY! You CANNOT trust the State to protect, teach, and mold your children into the disciples of Christ you want them to be. We have found that trying to redeem the public education system is an impossible task and that raising up your own children in the way they should go is a biblical directive. YOU CAN make it happen! The homeschool community is here to help and we are excited to help open your eyes to the benefits and opportunities that await your family!
Additional Resources:
Just say "NO" to "school choice"
November 6, 2024
Lately, “school choice” for private education through voucher programs, educational scholarships and 529 plans are all the rave, and understandably so. Parents are forced to fund a public-school system that is failing to educate our children in basic reading, writing, and arithmetic while promoting harmful social concepts and sexual education. They struggle to find the funds and support necessary to give our kids a better option. They see political leaders expressing empathy for our plight and offering their help.
However, there is profound risk in implementing these well-intended “school choice” programs.
Shekels with Shackles
Vouchers
South Carolina legislators created an entitlement program in 2023 which benefited low to middle income families having public-school students wanting to enter a private K-12 program. Over three years, the voucher program would gradually expand to provide $6000 dollars to 15,000 students per year. Although perceived as inadequate to democrat legislators opposing the bill, certain testing and reporting guidelines, admissions criteria, and health measures were required for schools accepting the vouchers under the direction of the S.C. Department of Education. During the last session, a measure was defeated which would have incorporated homeschoolers into the program. More recently, the SC voucher program was ruled unconstitutional by the state supreme court, citing the Blaine amendment, which prohibits public funding of religious or other private education institutions.
Each year, parents in states like Arizona, which deployed such voucher or scholarship programs while under republican leadership, see increasing calls for “oversight” and “transparency” from government officials less enthusiastic about parental rights. The SC legislature will likely try to revive its voucher program by placing a constitutional amendment referendum on the ballot in the next election. This is too complex an issue to solve by a simple ballot question. Do we really want state-funding and state-control over religious and private education?
529 Plan
During a campaign speech, President Donald Trump promised to allow the use of state 529 college savings plans to pay up to $10,000 per year in homeschooling costs. While K-12 private schools are currently eligible for the 529 plan, religious schools are NOT eligible IF the funds are being used for religious purposes. Should that be concerning? Also, the U.S. Department of Education determines the Title IV and 529 fund eligibility of schools through the use of federally recognized private accrediting agencies. Accreditation is the method whereby the executive branch ensures compliance with department policies and international agreements not otherwise required by law. For example, an accrediting agency may drop a Christian college based upon its failure to implement President Biden’s Title IX changes or the agency’s own Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) enrollment policy, thereby threatening the college’s 529 status unless it can find a more friendly federally approved accrediting agency. Consider an example from the healthcare industry. One of only two accrediting agencies available for a hospital's Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoP) compliance might withdraw accreditation if a hospital refuses to implement recommended discriminatory masking and biweekly COVID-19 testing of unvaccinated individuals. (This was a real scenario for Spartanburg Regional Hospital Systems from May through September of 2022. Research the accreditation agency - Det Norske Veritas.)
What can YOU do?
1) Do more digging into the push for universal "school choice." Below are two excellent resources.
2) Contact your state senator and representative and let them know you want them to
4) Talk to your church about hosting a homeschool cooperative or developing a homeschool scholarship program. Details can be found in the latter chapters of the Shekels with Shackles booklet below.
5) Give to scholarship programs already made available to homeschoolers.
Lately, “school choice” for private education through voucher programs, educational scholarships and 529 plans are all the rave, and understandably so. Parents are forced to fund a public-school system that is failing to educate our children in basic reading, writing, and arithmetic while promoting harmful social concepts and sexual education. They struggle to find the funds and support necessary to give our kids a better option. They see political leaders expressing empathy for our plight and offering their help.
However, there is profound risk in implementing these well-intended “school choice” programs.
Shekels with Shackles
Vouchers
South Carolina legislators created an entitlement program in 2023 which benefited low to middle income families having public-school students wanting to enter a private K-12 program. Over three years, the voucher program would gradually expand to provide $6000 dollars to 15,000 students per year. Although perceived as inadequate to democrat legislators opposing the bill, certain testing and reporting guidelines, admissions criteria, and health measures were required for schools accepting the vouchers under the direction of the S.C. Department of Education. During the last session, a measure was defeated which would have incorporated homeschoolers into the program. More recently, the SC voucher program was ruled unconstitutional by the state supreme court, citing the Blaine amendment, which prohibits public funding of religious or other private education institutions.
Each year, parents in states like Arizona, which deployed such voucher or scholarship programs while under republican leadership, see increasing calls for “oversight” and “transparency” from government officials less enthusiastic about parental rights. The SC legislature will likely try to revive its voucher program by placing a constitutional amendment referendum on the ballot in the next election. This is too complex an issue to solve by a simple ballot question. Do we really want state-funding and state-control over religious and private education?
529 Plan
During a campaign speech, President Donald Trump promised to allow the use of state 529 college savings plans to pay up to $10,000 per year in homeschooling costs. While K-12 private schools are currently eligible for the 529 plan, religious schools are NOT eligible IF the funds are being used for religious purposes. Should that be concerning? Also, the U.S. Department of Education determines the Title IV and 529 fund eligibility of schools through the use of federally recognized private accrediting agencies. Accreditation is the method whereby the executive branch ensures compliance with department policies and international agreements not otherwise required by law. For example, an accrediting agency may drop a Christian college based upon its failure to implement President Biden’s Title IX changes or the agency’s own Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) enrollment policy, thereby threatening the college’s 529 status unless it can find a more friendly federally approved accrediting agency. Consider an example from the healthcare industry. One of only two accrediting agencies available for a hospital's Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoP) compliance might withdraw accreditation if a hospital refuses to implement recommended discriminatory masking and biweekly COVID-19 testing of unvaccinated individuals. (This was a real scenario for Spartanburg Regional Hospital Systems from May through September of 2022. Research the accreditation agency - Det Norske Veritas.)
What can YOU do?
1) Do more digging into the push for universal "school choice." Below are two excellent resources.
2) Contact your state senator and representative and let them know you want them to
- vote against any bill meant to abolish the Blaine amendment of the SC Constitution, making it lawful to spend tax dollars on religious and private school (EVEN if it is through a constitutional amendment referendum to be decided by uninformed voters!)
- vote for a school choice bill which encourages private educational scholarships through tax deductions for scholarship donors and ensures such a program is NOT regulated by the IRS, the Dept. of Education, or an accreditation agency.
- vote against any bill accepting federal funding of our public schools or private schools tied to the implementation of policies and regulations proposed by the U.S. Dept. of Ed. or other federal agency.
- cut state and local taxes by appropriating state funding for strictly necessary services and projects and NOT for capitalist ventures with big business or pet projects for big donors.
4) Talk to your church about hosting a homeschool cooperative or developing a homeschool scholarship program. Details can be found in the latter chapters of the Shekels with Shackles booklet below.
5) Give to scholarship programs already made available to homeschoolers.
We the People and the Power of the Constitution
The Constitution is the Solution for the current issues in our country and state. We DON'T need to change it through an Article V Convention of States to propel America in a new direction. Volunteer to host a Constitution class for your church or community. This six-part video series will help teach the history and function of government in these United States and prepare God's ambassadors to effectively influence their government for Christ. Please check the calendar for upcoming classes, and let us know if you are interested in hosting a class by using our Contact page or visiting the John Birch Society website.
The Constitution is the Solution for the current issues in our country and state. We DON'T need to change it through an Article V Convention of States to propel America in a new direction. Volunteer to host a Constitution class for your church or community. This six-part video series will help teach the history and function of government in these United States and prepare God's ambassadors to effectively influence their government for Christ. Please check the calendar for upcoming classes, and let us know if you are interested in hosting a class by using our Contact page or visiting the John Birch Society website.
Recommended Literature / Videos
Updates
04/26/2023 - "School Choice" bill passed today.
What Happened?
The SC House of Representatives just passed S39 - The Education Savings Account Bill. It sets up an entitlement program, appropriating tax funds for private school attendance, which is actually against our state constitution. There are always strings attached to government handouts. The bill states that "creation of the program does not expand the regulatory authority of the State .. to impose regulation of education service providers .. beyond those necessary to enforce the requirements of the program." The shoe is on the other foot. The Republicans, even the Freedom Caucus (except for Rob Harris and Ryan McCabe), chose to support this big government, public/private partnership which will increase the control of the state over our children's education.
How Can You Help?
Go to https://www.spartanburgcounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/14920/Delegation-Members-Contact-Information to find the contact information for your representative and call and/or text them immediately to tell them how you feel about their vote on this bill. Thank Rob Harris and Ryan McCabe for their courage and support their campaigns by donating and by telling their constituents the TRUTH about this bill.
There is talk that the PACE scholarship bill (S285) will come out of committee for a vote. Let's hope and pray that actually happens so that private school parents will have another choice to help fund their children's education!
Leave comments about your opposition to the bill on the SC Freedom Caucus Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/SCFreedomcaucus/
You may also share the following video with friends and family to warn them about the dangers of accepting the tax money for their child's private school education! https://thenewamerican.com/its-a-trap-bringing-homeschools-christian-education-under-control/
What Happened?
The SC House of Representatives just passed S39 - The Education Savings Account Bill. It sets up an entitlement program, appropriating tax funds for private school attendance, which is actually against our state constitution. There are always strings attached to government handouts. The bill states that "creation of the program does not expand the regulatory authority of the State .. to impose regulation of education service providers .. beyond those necessary to enforce the requirements of the program." The shoe is on the other foot. The Republicans, even the Freedom Caucus (except for Rob Harris and Ryan McCabe), chose to support this big government, public/private partnership which will increase the control of the state over our children's education.
How Can You Help?
Go to https://www.spartanburgcounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/14920/Delegation-Members-Contact-Information to find the contact information for your representative and call and/or text them immediately to tell them how you feel about their vote on this bill. Thank Rob Harris and Ryan McCabe for their courage and support their campaigns by donating and by telling their constituents the TRUTH about this bill.
There is talk that the PACE scholarship bill (S285) will come out of committee for a vote. Let's hope and pray that actually happens so that private school parents will have another choice to help fund their children's education!
Leave comments about your opposition to the bill on the SC Freedom Caucus Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/SCFreedomcaucus/
You may also share the following video with friends and family to warn them about the dangers of accepting the tax money for their child's private school education! https://thenewamerican.com/its-a-trap-bringing-homeschools-christian-education-under-control/