STATEHOUSE REPORT | ISSUE 20.47 | NOV. 19, 2021
BIG STORY:Renewed voucher effort seeks to siphon public education dollars
NEWS BRIEFS: House, Senate to return Dec. 1, 6 on redistricting
LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: Party switch ahead?
COMMENTARY, Brack: S.C. House’s henhouse redistricting abuses democratic principles
SPOTLIGHT: ACLU of South Carolina
FEEDBACK: On McMaster’s attempt to censor a book
MYSTERY PHOTO: Monument to three
Voucher effort seeks to siphon public education dollars
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Look for another education battle in 2022 as key Republican leaders push a bill that would siphon public education dollars to private schools under the guise of “education freedom.”
S.C. Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, recently sent an email through the Palmetto Promise Institute to push H. 3976, a bill she introduced in February to create “education scholarship accounts” for tens of thousands of early reading program or special needs students. Anyone in the proposed program would get about $5,000 a year in an online savings account to use for a student’s education.
A 2020 version of the bill, which proposed a similar mechanism limited to special needs students, was projected to cost up to $456 million a year for about 67,000 eligible students. The new version could dramatically increase the number of participants at a much-increased fiscal impact, Statehouse insiders said.
Erickson didn’t respond to several inquiries. But in the email, she wrote the measure, which included House Speaker Jay Lucas and 62 other mostly GOP members as co-sponsors, “would empower low- and middle-income families with control and choice over their child’s education in a way never before seen in South Carolina. It would position the Palmetto State as a leader in education freedom and set the stage for a student-centered education revolution.”
But advocates at the S.C. Education Association say such rhetoric offers nice-sounding buzzwords that mask a dangerous potential shift to education vouchers that would steer millions of public school dollars away from school districts for private schools.
SCEA Executive Director Todd Jaeck said Erickson’s bill mirrors attempts in other states to dismantle public schools.
“By pulling state funds into separate accounts and expanding eligibility — the money leaves the local public school and ‘follows’ the student, even if the student returns to the local public school where educators proudly accept and educate all of South Carolina’s children,” he said.
“Cloaked in language like ‘choice’ and ‘scholarship,’ this bill attempts to create the illusion that it is providing opportunity. However, the reality of the bill removes opportunity from many children by taking sorely needed funds from the schools and institutions that must accept, welcome and educate all children.”
Oran Smith, senior fellow at the conservative Palmetto Promise Institute, recently told Statehouse Report that Erickson’s proposal was part of a national trend. Over the last two years, 18 states have added or extended similar programs that are working successfully, he said.
State Rep. Jason Elliott, R-Greenville, said the measure would enable families to obtain an online savings account that the parent or guardian would administer. Funding would be around $5,000 per student per year and, he said, could go to private or independent school tuition, books, transportation or other school services.
While the bill already has a majority of House members as supportive, it still faces opposition.
Patrick Kelly, director of governmental affairs for the Palmetto State Teachers Association, said it had accountability problems, such as administrative costs and safeguards to ensure equal access. He also noted that “school choice” was available throughout the state through charter schools.
Last year, the S.C. Supreme Court ruled against an attempt by GOP Gov. Henry McMaster to steer $32 million in federal pandemic aid dollars to fund private school scholarships.
The battle over the measure is expected to get started in January when the legislative session resumes.
Reporter Al Dozier of Columbia contrtibuted to this story.
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House, Senate to return Dec. 1, 6 on redistricting
Staff reports | Both chambers of the S.C. General Assembly will return in early December to consider redistricting plans. New maps are required every 10 years by the U.S. Constitution to equalize representation across the state.
The House plan, approved 21-2 with two members abstaining, has drawn fire for protecting incumbents and heavily favoring Republicans. The House returns 2 p.m. Dec. 1 to start deliberations, which are expected to continue at 10 a.m. Thursday and Dec. 6.
Meanwhile, S.C. senators will meet in a special session at 1 p.m. Dec. 6 to consider a redistricting plan that has been generally praised.
In other recent news:
Alexander, Gardner to be honored. S.C. Sen. Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, and Lowcountry health leader Roland Gardner will receive leadership awards in January from Furman University’s Riley Institute, according to a Thursday press release. The awards will be presented Jan. 18 at the OneSouthCarolina Legislative and Civic Leadership Awards Dinner in Columbia. Alexander, recipient of the legislative leadership award, has served at the Statehouse since 1987. He currently chairs the Labor, Commerce and Industry committee and is widely viewed as a top candidate to be the Senate’s next president. Gardner, who is CEO of the Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Community Health Center, will receive the civic leadership award. The awards dinner begins with a reception for all registered attendees at 6 p.m. The dinner and awards presentation follow at 7 p.m. Tickets are $150 each and may be purchased by visiting furman.edu/onesouthcarolina or calling 864.235.8330.
Hundreds expected at today’s Leatherman funeral. Today’s funeral in Florence for the late state Sen. Hugh Leatherman is expected to draw hundreds. The powerful Senate Republican, who chaired the budget-writing Senate Finance Committee, represented Florence in the state Senate for 40 years. The funeral will begin at 3 p.m. Some Florence streets are expected to close for the funeral.
U.S. overdose deaths reach record high. More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the year ending in April fueled, in large part, by the booming availability of fentanyl and street drugs and the lack of access to treatment and rising mental health problems, according to reports. The CDC estimated that overdose deaths also rose dramatically in South Carolina during the pandemic.
Right whale calf spotted off S.C. coast. The first North Atlantic right whale mother-calf pair of the season has been spotted off the state’s coast.
$88 million Emanuel settlement approved. U.S. District Court Judge Margaret B. Seymour has approved an $88 million settlement to resolve claims brought against the federal government by victims’ families and survivors of the 2015 Emanuel AME Church shooting. The five survivors and the estates for the nine people killed in the attack alleged errors in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System allowed the gunman to buy the firearms he used in the mass shooting. More: The Post and Courier, WCIV
Columbia voters choose Rickenmann as new mayor. Republican-backed Daniel Rickenmann won Tuesday’s runoff election over Tameika Isaac Devine to become Columbia’s next mayor. Rickenmann has long served on city council.
Biden signs $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure measure signed into law Monday will pour billions of dollars into better roads, ports, power lines, broadband and other major projects across the country as states prioritize how to use the money.
Mace proposes measure to decriminalize marijuana. A draft bill unveiled Monday by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace would eliminate federal prohibitions on cannabis, but stops short of fully legalizing marijuana, instead letting state leaders set rules on their own.
Charleston history commissioners stall on statue request. Charleston’s Commission on History voted Wednesday to wait for more information before it makes a decision on a request from Los Angeles museum curators to borrow the John C. Calhoun statue for an exhibit featuring similar figures that stood as monuments until recent years. Commissioners expressed concerns during the nearly two-hour virtual meeting that the Calhoun monument could be used to put Charleston in a bad light or as part of a politically charged collection.
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Party switch ahead?
Cartoonist Robert Ariail always has an interesting take on what’s going on in South Carolina. His weekly “Lowcountry” strip is originally drawn for our sister publication, the Charleston City Paper. Love the cartoon? Hate it? What do you think: feedback@statehousereport.com.
S.C. House’s redistricting abuses democratic principles
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The fix has been in by members of the S.C. House for a long time. For months, they’ve been actors in a theatrical drama of their own creation to make it look like newly redrawn voting districts are fair.
They’re not. In fact, their laughable work will make South Carolina’s noisy partisan divides worse. Their work is nothing more than a bold build of an electoral map of 124 House districts so more Republicans win and the voting power of Black South Carolinians is dispersed. Their work strives to sow confusion in voting, not improve democracy. They should be ashamed of the way they’re taunting democratic principles of fairness, inclusion and equality.
But they’ll be back in special session Dec. 1 for Act Two — the public process of justifying the inequities and partisan districts they claim are fair.
You should contact your state representative in Columbia today and demand that he or she vote against the laughable plan passed this week by the House Judiciary Committee. And if they end up voting for it, you and your neighbors should let them know they’ll face a spirited reckoning next year in primary and general elections.
In fact, every single member of the South Carolina House of Representatives who votes for these proposed new districts should face a serious challenger in 2022. Let’s use the power that’s left to vote these people fiddling with democracy out of office — all of them who are spitting on competition. Instead of 2022 elections being about Republicans and Democrats, make it about new blood versus incumbents. “Get rid of incumbents” should be the rallying cry of 2022.
If you think redistricting inequities are hyperbole, look at an analysis that highlights how messed up the proposed House districts are:
Precinct splits: Of the 2,000-plus voting precincts in the state, 123 now have split precincts, which means some voters in the precinct vote for one state representative and others for another. Having split precincts creates confusion and time delays at the polls because managers have to steer voters to the correct machine for them to cast ballots. Number of split precincts in the proposed map: 370. Couldn’t the House do better than this?
Partisan districts: The House plan reduced competition by creating additional Republican-leaning districts, from 79 to 84; more Democratic-leaning districts, from 29 to 31, and more majority-minority districts, from 30 to 32. All of this is bad for democracy because it creates a predetermined outcome and guarantees a GOP House. In the current plan, only 16 of 124 districts are considered competitive — meaning either party has a chance to win. In the new plan? Just 9. That means there is a real chance for either party to win in only nine districts. Such a poorly-drawn map is a slap in the face.
Lynn Teague, a vice president with the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, offered this thought on the map being considered by the S.C. House: “The extremely low number of competitive districts – even at a generous plus/minus 5 percent standard – points toward making voters nearly obsolete in general elections for the S.C. House of Representatives.”
Imagine that — elected officials trying to make voters obsolete. Sound like people who want to support autocratic leadership?
Months ago, we described the rigged writing on the wall: “What really needs to happen is the opposite of incumbency protection. To produce a fair reapportionment as envisioned by the U.S. Constitution every 10 years, the chickens [voters] need to be in charge through a redistricting commission that is independent of the legislature. But if you believe that’s going to happen anytime soon, let me sell you a seat on a rocketship.”
Of course, you apparently now can buy seats on rocketships. But you can’t get fair maps in South Carolina. What the S.C. House is doing should make you mad. The way to fight back is to raise Cain now and, if you don’t get what you want in December, raise more Cain at the polls next year. Let’s not allow these foxes to keep guarding their own henhouse.
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ACLU of South Carolina
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Statehouse Report to you at no cost. This week’s spotlighted underwriter is the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU of South Carolina is dedicated to preserving the civil liberties enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Through communications, lobbying and litigation, the ACLU of South Carolina works to preserve and enhance the rights of all citizens of South Carolina. Foremost among these rights are freedom of speech and religion, the right to equal treatment under law, and the right to privacy.
On McMaster’s attempt to censor a book
To the editor:
Guvnah Foghorn Leghorn McMaster continues to meddle where he’s not wanted.
It has been women’s reproductive organs. He needs to stay out of the uterus unless it is his own. He doesn’t have a medical degree but makes medical decisions.
Now he’s censoring school libraries. He’s not a trained school librarian or English and language arts teacher, but he’s cleaning out pornographic literature in the schools. He continues to push South Carolina deeper back into the Dark Ages. I know this won’t be published, but writing it felt good.
— Elizabeth Jones , Columbia S.C.
Send us your thoughts
We receive a few comments a week and look forward to publishing. But often we can’t because we can’t verify the identity of the writer. To be published, you’ve got to provide us with contact information so we can verify your letters. Verified letters to the editor are published weekly. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. Comments are limited to 250 words or less. Please include your name and contact information.
- Send your letters or comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com
Monument to three
A longtime, dedicated reader sent in this photo of a monument of three members of the military that is located somewhere in South Carolina. What is it and, if you can, tell us something about it? Send your guess to feedback@statehousereport.com — and remember to include your name, home city and contact information.
Last week’s mystery, “Another white building,” shows the Barnwell County Courthouse, a photo sent in by reader Bill Segars of Hartsville.
The building was recognized by astute readers Penny Forrester of Tallahassee, Fla.; Kevin Mertens of Greenville; Jacie Godfrey and Barry Wingard, both of Florence; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Jay Altman and Elizabeth Jones, both of Columbia; Fairey Mock of Chapin; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; David Taylor of Darlington; and Tray Hunter of Bluffton.
Graf shared a little on Barnwell County history:
“The so-called “Barnwell Ring” was a grouping of influential Democratic South Carolina political leaders from Barnwell County. The group included state Sen. Edgar A. Brown, state Rep. Solomon Blatt Sr., Gov. Joseph Emile Harley and state Rep. Winchester Smith Jr. Together, the four occupied the most powerful positions of South Carolina government in 1941.
“Strom Thurmond coined the term ‘Barnwell Ring’ during his bid for governor in 1946. He campaigned on a progressive platform which put him squarely at odds with the conservative legislators of the Barnwell Ring. The ring arose in the late 1930s and lasted into the 1970s. Brown and Blatt were the chief principals of the ring. Brown was the president pro tempore and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee from 1942 to 1972. Blatt was the speaker of the house from 1937 to 1946, and 1951 to 1973. Both men denied the existence of the ring until 1963 when Brown exclaimed, ‘Long live the Barnwell Ring’ at a dinner to honor Blatt.”
- Send us a mystery. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
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