By SCOTT POWELLLedger Staff Writer

A House Ways and Means subcommittee will hold a public hearing April 6 at 3 p.m. to discuss the Put Parents in Charge Act.

The bill would provide tax credits to parents whose students attend a private school, home school, or transfer to another public school. Individuals and businesses would be allowed to make tax credits to scholarship granting organizations.

Described by proponents as a school choice bill, parents of children entering kindergarten through fourth grade and students not enrolled in an independent school would initially be allowed to take advantage of the tax credits. Students in later grades would be phased in over the next four years.

House Education Committee Chairman Ronnie Townsend (R-Anderson) said Put Parents in Charge is really a tax bill that will have a major impact on the state budget.

Townsend presented an informational seminar to Cherokee County School Improvement Councils on Monday evening at Gaffney High. He was invited to speak by Corinth Elementary Principal Brenda Sharts.

There are no caps on tax credits in the Put Parents in Charge Act, according to Townsend.

Any individual, business or corporation can choose to receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for their state income taxes.

This will ultimately reduce the amount of income tax revenue available to fund other areas of the state budget, including law enforcement, Medicaid, the Department of Corrections, mental health and public health care, Townsend said.

“Revenue shortfalls for the state could cause local property taxes to increase,” Townsend said. “You don’t let otters in a fish pond. This is an otter in a tax pond.”

Townsend expressed other concerns including the lack of accountability of private schools, few rules on the establishment of scholarship granting organizations, and the possibility predatory lenders could take advantage of families borrowing upfront tuition money with the goal of repaying it with next year’s tax credit.

Proponents contend parents should have school choice because they are ultimately accountable for their child’s education. The accountability piece in Put Parents in Charge is a satisfaction survey that parents could fill out on their view of their child’s education experience.

Schools participation in the satisfaction surveys would be voluntary.

In comparison, Townsend said public schools are required to be held accountable for their test score performance through the state’s Education Accountability Act and federal No Child Left Behind Act.

“Public education is the flagship education system in South Carolina,” Townsend said. “It is not an island when we are talking about the education of our children.”