FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2023
Contact: Heaven Hale, [email protected]
The SCEA Strongly Opposes Passage of Voucher Bill
COLUMBIA – Today, The South Carolina Education Association (The SCEA) released the following statement on voucher bill S.39. This measure establishes Educational Scholarship Trust Funds to provide families with vouchers for private and religious school tuition and costs.
“Every child, no matter their race, zip code, or socioeconomic status, deserves access to a high-quality education. That is why The SCEA staunchly opposes S.39 and any measure that diverts public funds into private schools. Education Scholarship Trust Funds are simply vouchers under a different name. Our state constitution is clear: public funds should not go to private and religious schools. This bill is a clear violation of our state constitution.
Over 94% of South Carolina students attend public schools, and those will be the students that suffer the consequences of diverting public money to private schools, such as larger class sizes, reduced extracurricular activities, and fewer sports programs.
In the middle of the worst teacher shortage crisis our state has ever seen, while South Carolina continues to rank towards the bottom in teacher pay, it is deeply disappointing to see the legislature taking money that should be used to improve public education and sending it to private institutions.
Like most South Carolinians, we believe that a successful future depends on every student in our state receiving a great education where they live and play. To that end, we will continue to fight against measures that harm public education and South Carolina students.”
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