House Passes School Choice Bill

Supporters of school choice won approval in the South Carolina House Wednesday. 

The House voted 65-49 on a bill that will give tax credits to parents who send their children to a private school, home school or a school in another district. The bill will also help low-income and disabled students attend independent schools. 

"This is an exciting day for the many parents and activists who have spent the last ten years advocating for school choice reforms," said a statement posted on the South Carolinians for Responsible Government website shortly after the bill passed.

"Hopefully this decisive win will produce even more positive momentum as the bill heads to the S.C. Senate." 

House bill 4894 will provide tax credits to parents for other schooling choices: $4,000 per child for private school, $2,000 for homeschool expenses and $1,000 per child who attends a public school in another district. 

The bill also sets up privately-funded scholarships for low-income students and disabled students to help parents with the cost of sending them to independent schools. Scholarship donors will also receive tax credits. 

Two Upstate representatives and 60 other members of the House .

Last year’s version died on the House floor by a vote of 61-59, and in the Senate Education Committee 6-10, according to the Associated Press.