SC Supreme Court strikes down part of new private school voucher law

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – The South Carolina Supreme Court has struck down part of a state law passed last year that allows parents to use taxpayer funds to help pay for private schools.

In a 3-2 decision, the high court found that portions of the Education Scholarship Trust Fund Act violated the state’s constitutional prohibition against using government funds to benefit private educational institutions.

“A parent who chooses to use a scholarship to pay their child’s private school tuition is undoubtedly using public funds to provide a direct benefit to the private school…,” Justice Gary Hill wrote in the majority opinion. “After we clear away the window dressing, we can see the Act funnels public funds to the direct benefit of private schools. This is what our constitution forbids.”

At issue is a law signed in 2023 that allowed a limited number of eligible families to get $6,000 annually in a publicly funded savings account to use toward costs such as tuition, transportation, supplies, or technology at private schools or public schools outside of their district beginning in Fall 2024.

The Department of Education and other proponents argued that the law gets around the prohibition because the money is put into an education savings account rather than funneled directly to private schools.

Hill said that argument is inherently flawed, noting that “just because the benefit is diffuse does not mean it is not direct.”

In a dissenting opinion, Justice John Kittredge suggested the majority is pulling the rug out from under the state legislature.

“The majority opinion today defines the phrase ‘direct benefit’ so broadly that it swallows any possible meaning of ‘indirect benefit’ in the process,” Kittredge wrote. “In doing so, the majority opinion pays lip service to the policy-making role of the legislature.”

State Superintendent Ellen Weaver expressed disappointment in the majority’s decision and raised concerns about its timing in a Wednesday afternoon statement to News 2.

“Families cried tears of joy when the scholarship funds became available for their children, and today’s Supreme Court ruling brings those same families tears of devastation,” she said. “The late timing of the initial filing and subsequent ruling on this case midway through the first quarter of the new school year wreaks havoc on the participating students and their families.”

“While I respectfully disagree with the holdings of the majority decision, I remain committed to working with the Governor and the General Assembly to find a way forward to support these students and educational freedom for all South Carolina families. These students deserve better, and I will not rest until they get it,” she continued.

A spokesperson for the S.C. Department of Education said the agency has halted payments for tuition and fees for nonpublic schools and courses per the Court’s order.

“Of note, the Court did not change student eligibility requirements. Also, any allowable expenses – other than tuition and fees to a non-public education service provider – remain eligible for families to purchase. Additionally, the order clearly enjoins only future payments of tuition and fees and does not require the Department to recoup payments made prior to September 11, 2024,” the agency spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that the department will work with families to “assess viable alternatives for their children if continued attendance at their current school is no longer an option, thanks to this lawsuit and subsequent ruling.”

The Palmetto Promise Institute, a South Carolina-based conservative think tank, estimates that more than 2,800 students will be impacted by the decision.

This story is breaking and may be updated.

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