@Colnzgprnts: "Public schools are a monopoly, etc...

some/many differ with yo opine, eg;

"I don't think I've ever met anyone quite as ferocious about it [public education] as Molly [munger]...After spending early years at what she calls the 'ivy-covered' Westridge School, a private, all-girls academy, Munger, at 14, successfully petitioned her parents [dad a buffett partner] to let her go to Pasadena [CA] public schools. She said that experience "changed me forever."
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DDRIGHTS/message/8016

this SC bill panders to the T-GOPs...BTW what are ideas many parents abhor and are radical and dangerous...

Public schools are not a monopoly. Currently private and parochial schools compete with public schools.

This bill simply subsidizes the wealthy already sending their children to private schools. The subsidy isn't enough to pay the tuition at private schools for the families who aren't able to substantially supplement the subsidy.

This bill will take money away from public school students and reduce the cost of private and parochial schools for the few able to supplement it substantially.

If you want religion (disguised as the "science of creationism") taught to your kids then you'll have to find a private/parochial school or home school.

Please explain exactly how the federal government uses the public school system. Also, what ideas do the public schools teach that are abhorrent; what concepts do parents find "radical and dangerous?"

@Colnzgprnts: "...Our schools are instuments of the federal government and as such promote ideas that many parents abhor..."

action taken by "the federal government"

"In an effort to fulfill a campaign promise to overhaul the nation’s education system, in March 2010 President Obama released A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a document which outlines the Administration’s priorities for the rewrite of ESEA, recently known as No Child Left Behind. The ‘blueprint’ provides a re-envisioned federal role for education based on the following priorities: producing college and career ready students; having great teachers and leaders in every school; promoting equity and opportunity for all students; raising the bar and reward excellence; promoting innovation and continuous improvement
http://www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PolicyAdvocacy/CECPolicyResources/NoChildLeftBehind/NCLB_Issue_Brief.pdf

how does the SC School Choice Bill address, "producing college and career ready students; having great teachers and leaders in every school; promoting equity and opportunity for all students; raising the bar and reward excellence; promoting innovation and continuous improvement"

ask not answered: what are public school ideas many parents abhor...and parents find radical and dangerous.

This might surprise you, but monopoly is a word that means something very specific. Public schools are not a monopoly.

People who abhor the federal government probably need to move to a country more in line with their world view. I'd imagine Iran would accept your defection with welcome arms. Although even they have publicly funded primary and secondary education...

@JoSCh: "... monopoly is a word that means something very specific. Public schools are not a monopoly."

thanks...was trying to come up with a way to express this...the general definition does not do it...but believe ones who called public schools a monopoly used the term in its specific meaning re for profit businesses...

We already contribute to our broken, failed public school system that we don't advocate.It is a national joke. We should take this bill much further and create some sort of choice and competition instead of the monopolistic bureaucracy that's preventing our children from getting the education they deserve. This is just a small step in that direction.

@Da Wilson: "... our broken, failed public school system that we don't advocate..."

bills like this exacerbate the failed school problem...eg, depletes funds to already under funded schools...the focus should be on fixing the broken system, not contributing to its failure. this bill will fix nothing...but it will add to the wealth (mo tax breaks/credits) of the 1%-ers.

@johnh: "...a voucher system is needed on the scale that some states already have enacted (FL, GA, and TX)."

perhaps make all schools charter schools is the FIX???
..."A charter school is an independent public school established and operated under a charter for a fixed period of time"

are there any studies to determine the success of vouchers or charters...

be careful of studies...eg, "If you're comparing charter schools to public schools, for example, you need to control for things like income and prior test scores in order to make sure you're really looking at the effect of just the schools themselves, not being fooled by the fact that one might have had a better group of students to begin with"

To Da Wilson; “failed public school system that we don't advocate.”

I don’t buy what the politicians and special interest groups are trying to sell us about the SC Public School system. It’s been repeated so many times we believe it and propagate the claim.

These reports indicate otherwise;
http://educationnext.org/few-states-set-worldclass-standards/
http://www.edweek.org/media/ew/qc/2011/QualityCounts2011_PressRelease.pdf

The pitfalls of the reports are that the organizations that produce and publish them are funded by special interests also. These are engineered generally gloomy in outlook but the comparison is unbiased toward SC. South Carolinas overall grade is slightly above average not last. K-12 achievement scores are well below average 45th. However, it ranks near the top in level of state standards at 7th , partially explaining the lower achievement score. South Carolina ranked 1st in teacher standards.

There is a lot of room for improvement in South Carolina but we are definitely not last. This bill only gives a tax break to people who can afford it and are already sending their children to private school.

To Stanley; I agree that this is a distraction from more pressing issues; the dismal drop out rate, (in my opinion, this the worst failure of the system), and improving the situation in the education deserts (corridor of shame). Instead we get a tax break for the wealthy.

To Stanley: I found this on charter school performance. I’ll have to study this more and vet the source.
http://www.artofteachingscience.org/2012/03/15/charter-schools-what-does-the-research-tell-us/

@JohnH: "...this on charter school performance..."

thanks for the link.

well guess charter schools not the fix...ie, study say they perform no better than regular public schools...i was surprised and quick review yielded no data bias (my opine)...but;

would like to see a pro charter study...seems charters would perform better...then so much depends on the school's teachers and administrators (leadership)...

aslo would like to see comparision (study) of USA, japan, europe, singapore, etc education systems...wonder how much research the School Choice Bill's originator did...

@John H: "...I don't buy what the politicians and special interest groups are trying to sell us...These reports indicate otherwise;

[report CLIP] "...we give Massachusetts, Missouri, and South Carolina an A for establishing rigorous expectations [world class stds]...a grade of A does not indicate students are performing at the highest level...the high grade indicates that the three states have set a high bar for students to reach...for example, only 25 percent of 8th graders in South Carolina were deemed proficient..." http://educationnext.org/few-states-set-worldclass-standards/
NOTE: those not deemed proficient in SC would be proficient in say TN.

personal anecdote re SC schools: in days of yore i graduated sville hi; went to reasonably good college; i didn't have to take remedial math courses; some from prestigious yankee hi-schools (eg, baltimore poly tech) did...apologies if this a repeat, but seemed appropriate here.

To Stanley: “would like to see a pro charter study.” Thank you for the synopsis. How reliable are the studies of non-public when the measuring instrument is designed for public schools? Bias has to be considered. Measuring performance will be on a level playing field once full implementation of Core Standards is in place, http://www.corestandards.org/

There are alternatives to the traditional four year High School experience it might be the collaboration between private and public.

NOTE: those not deemed proficient in SC would be proficient in say TN.
Each state sets its own standards against which the score is established. This is why basing an opinion of our states education system on state rank is doing the hardworking teachers and students of South Carolina an injustice.