2005-2006 Bill 4054: Put Parents in Charge Act - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 116th Session, 2005-2006 3 4 H. 4054 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Edge, Merrill and Viers 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\pt\2636sj05.doc 11 Companion/Similar bill(s): 1166, 3012, 3204, 3652, 4534 12 13 Introduced in the House on May 5, 2005 14 Currently residing in the House Committee on Ways and Means 15 16 Summary: Put Parents in Charge Act 17 18 19 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 20 21 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 22 5/5/2005 House Introduced and read first time HJ-48 23 5/5/2005 House Referred to Committee on Ways and Means HJ-48 24 5/5/2005 Scrivener's error corrected 25 26 27 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 28 29 5/5/2005 30 5/5/2005-A 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO ENACT THE “SOUTH CAROLINA PUT PARENTS IN 12 CHARGE ACT” BY ADDING CHAPTER 18 TO TITLE 12, 13 CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, SO AS TO 14 PROVIDE CREDITS FOR CERTAIN TAXES FOR TUITION 15 PAID TO PUBLIC OR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS, TO 16 DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR 17 REPORTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE 18 IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS CHAPTER; AND BY ADDING 19 ARTICLE 6 TO CHAPTER 63, TITLE 59 OF THE 1976 CODE 20 SO AS TO ALLOW STUDENTS ATTENDING A FAILING 21 PUBLIC SCHOOL TO USE AN EDUCATION VOUCHER TO 22 TRANSFER TO ANOTHER PUBLIC SCHOOL OR TO AN 23 INDEPENDENT SCHOOL, TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS, 24 AND TO PROVIDE FOR REPORTING AND CONDUCTING 25 OF EXAMINATIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS. 26 27 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 28 Carolina: 29 30 PART I 31 32 SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the “South Carolina Put 33 Parents in Charge Act”. 34 35 SECTION 2. The purpose of this act is to: 36 (1) restore parental control of education; 37 (2) improve public school performance; and 38 (3) expand educational opportunities for children of families in 39 poverty. 40 41 PART II 42

1 [4054] 1 1 SECTION 1. Title 12 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding: 2 3 “CHAPTER 18 4 5 Put Parents in Charge Tax Credit 6 7 Article 1 8 9 General Provisions 10 11 Section 12-18-30. As used in this chapter, unless otherwise 12 required by the context: 13 (1) ‘Department’ means the South Carolina Department of 14 Revenue. 15 (2) ‘Independent school’ means a school, other than a public 16 school, at which the compulsory attendance requirements of 17 Section 59-56-10 may be met and that does not discriminate based 18 on the grounds of race, color, or national origin. ‘Independent 19 school’ includes home schools as provided in Article 1, Chapter 20 65, Title 59. 21 (3) ‘Public school’ means a public school as defined in Section 22 59-1-120. 23 (4) ‘Qualifying student’ means an individual: 24 (a) who is: 25 (i) enrolled at an independent school as a full-time 26 student, as determined by the school, for which the school has a 27 release of information form; 28 (ii) taught at home pursuant to Article 1, Chapter 65, Title 29 59; or 30 (iii) a resident of this State, and, if enrolled in a public 31 school, is not a resident of the school district operating that public 32 school; 33 (b) who is in kindergarten through grade twelve; 34 (c) who is zoned to attend a school that has received a rating 35 of ‘below average’ or ‘unsatisfactory’ as its absolute grade on its 36 most recent annual report card under the Education Accountability 37 Act; and 38 (d) who is not claiming a voucher pursuant to Article 6, 39 Chapter 63, Title 59. 40 A student who is determined by a school psychologist to be 41 physically or mentally handicapped according to the definitions in 42 Section 59-21-510 is also considered a ‘qualifying student’ 43 pursuant to this item.

1 [4054] 2 1 Once a student becomes a ‘qualifying student’, if he transfers 2 pursuant to this article from a failing school as defined in Section 3 59-63-610, the student is eligible for the tax credit program until 4 he graduates from high school regardless of a subsequent change 5 in the rating of the school from which he transferred. 6 (5) ‘Receipt’ means a document that a school issues to the 7 person that makes a tuition payment on behalf of a qualifying 8 student. The department shall develop the form of the document 9 the content of which must be limited to and include, the name and 10 address of the school; the name, address and social security 11 number of the qualifying student on whose behalf the tuition was 12 paid; the name of the person paying the tuition; the names of all 13 other persons who have paid tuition, in chronological order, during 14 the then current calendar year on behalf of the qualifying student 15 prior to the payment for which the receipt is being issued and 16 including the total tuition paid by the named person; and the date 17 and amount of tuition paid and the aggregate amount of tuition 18 paid for the qualifying student. For a student taught at home 19 pursuant to Article 1, Chapter 65, Title 59, ‘receipt’ means a 20 document issued by the entity receiving a payment for tuition, 21 which contains the name of the entity receiving the payment; the 22 identity of the goods or services purchased; the date and amount of 23 tuition paid; and, if the receipt is for personal services, the person’s 24 taxpayer identification number. 25 (6) ‘Release of information form’ means a form developed by 26 a school that states that a parent or the legal guardian of the 27 qualifying student consents to the release of the information 28 contained in the receipt and is consistent with the requirements of 29 20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, Family Educational Rights and Privacy 30 Act of 1974. 31 (7) ‘School’ means a public school or independent school. 32 (8) ‘State’ means the government of the State of South 33 Carolina. 34 (9) ‘Tuition’ means the amount charged for attending a public 35 school when the student is not a resident of the school district or 36 for attending an independent school. ‘Tuition’ includes fees 37 necessary for attending the respective school including, but not 38 limited to, enrollment fees and transportation fees. For students 39 taught at home pursuant to Article 1, Chapter 65, Title 59, ‘tuition’ 40 means expenses incurred for tutors; textbooks; school supplies; 41 computers including hardware and software; fees for membership 42 in an association that sets the academic standards for the student’s 43 home schooling program; and academic lessons including, but not

1 [4054] 3 1 limited to, science, math, music, and art. Expenses for tutors or 2 academic lessons may be included in ‘tuition’ only if the person 3 providing the tutoring or academic lessons is a person other than 4 the student’s parent or legal guardian and who meets the 5 requirements for providing the service as set by the 6 standard-setting entity for that student’s home school program. 7 ‘Tuition’ does not include athletic fees. 8 9 Section 12-18-40. The department may promulgate regulations 10 to aid in the performance of its duties pursuant to this chapter, 11 however, the department’s power does not extend to matters of 12 school governance, curriculum, hiring or firing, or religious beliefs 13 or practices. 14 15 Section 12-18-50. The department may conduct examinations 16 and investigations whenever it believes that the provisions of this 17 chapter have been evaded or violated in any manner. All powers 18 possessed by the department as provided in Title 12 to conduct 19 examinations and investigations apply to examinations and 20 investigations conducted pursuant to this section. 21 22 Section 12-18-60. If a student wants to transfer to a different 23 school district, the board of trustees of the school district to which 24 the student wishes to transfer shall approve or disapprove the 25 transfer. If the board of trustees approves the transfer, the board 26 may estimate the tuition to charge the transferring student. 27 28 Section 12-18-70. The annual determinations required in this 29 chapter to be made by the budget office must be used by the 30 department to set the limits on the amount of credit that may be 31 claimed pursuant to Section 12-18-310 for the tax year beginning 32 after the December thirty-first immediately following the 33 determinations. 34 35 Article 3 36 37 Tuition Tax Credits 38 39 Section 12-18-310. (A) A person is allowed a tax credit for 40 tuition paid for qualifying students to attend a school. The credit 41 may be applied against the person’s liability for taxes imposed 42 pursuant to Chapter 6 of this title. Limitations upon the total 43 amount of liability for taxes that can be reduced by the use of

1 [4054] 4 1 another credit allowed for that tax must be computed after the 2 credit allowed by this section is used to reduce a tax liability 3 pursuant to Chapter 6 of this title. The credit may be claimed only 4 by the person who actually paid the tuition. More than one person 5 may claim a credit for the payment of a portion of the qualifying 6 student’s total tuition but only if the person actually paid the 7 portion and the total credit taken by all persons does not exceed, in 8 the aggregate, the limits set in this section. If the person’s receipt 9 indicates that the aggregate tuition paid by all persons for the 10 qualifying student exceeds the credit which may be claimed 11 pursuant to this article, then that person may claim the credit only 12 to the extent that the person’s tuition payment does not exceed the 13 allowable credit. No credit may be claimed by a person without a 14 receipt. The credit is nonrefundable. A credit claimed pursuant to 15 this section but not used in a taxable year may be carried forward 16 for five years from the taxable year in which the credit is earned by 17 the taxpayer. Credits which are carried forward must be used in 18 the order earned. 19 (B)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the credit 20 claimed for each qualifying student pursuant to this article may not 21 exceed the lesser of: 22 (a) the actual tuition paid; or 23 (b) seventy-five percent of the projected state per pupil 24 cost as promulgated by the Office of Research and Statistics. 25 (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of item (1), the credit 26 claimed for each physically or mentally handicapped student 27 pursuant to this article may not exceed the lesser of: 28 (a) the actual tuition paid; or 29 (b) the appropriate pupil classification weighting for that 30 student pursuant to Section 59-20-40 multiplied by seventy-five 31 percent of the projected state per pupil cost as promulgated by the 32 Office of Research and Statistics. 33 (C) If a qualifying student’s enrollment in an independent 34 school is terminated before the end of the school year, the 35 independent school shall refund to the tuition payers any tuition 36 paid that is applicable to a semester or term beyond the semester or 37 term during which the qualifying student’s enrollment is 38 terminated. At the time of making the refund, the independent 39 school shall issue a receipt reflecting the date, amount, and payee 40 for each refund and shall provide a copy of the receipt to the 41 department.” 42 43 PART III

1 [4054] 5 1 2 SECTION 1. Chapter 63, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended 3 by adding: 4 5 “Article 6 6 7 Put Parents in Charge Educational Choice 8 9 Section 59-63-610. (A) As used in this article: 10 (1) ‘Failing public school’ means a public school in the State 11 that has received a rating of ‘below average’ or ‘unsatisfactory’ as 12 its absolute grade on its most recent annual report card under the 13 Education Accountability Act. 14 (2) ‘Parent’ means the natural or adoptive parent or legal 15 guardian of a child. 16 (3) ‘Independent school’ means a school, other than a public 17 school, at which the compulsory attendance requirements of 18 Section 59-56-10 may be met and that does not discriminate based 19 on the grounds of race, color, or national origin. ‘Independent 20 school’ includes home schools as provided in Article 1, Chapter 21 65, Title 59. 22 (4) ‘Public school’ means a public school in the State as 23 defined in Section 59-1-120. 24 (B) This article only applies to a student whose household 25 income is less than two hundred fifty percent of the federal poverty 26 rate. 27 28 Section 59-63-620. (A) A student is eligible to transfer to a 29 passing public school or an independent school if: 30 (1) the student has spent the prior school year in attendance 31 at a failing public school; 32 (2) the student attended another public school and has been 33 assigned to attend a failing public school; 34 (3) the student is entering kindergarten or first grade and has 35 been assigned to a failing public school; 36 (4) the student resides in an area zoned for a failing school; 37 or 38 (5) the student is determined by a school psychologist to be 39 physically or mentally handicapped according to the definitions in 40 Section 59-21-510. 41 (B) A student who meets the criteria in subsection (A) may 42 contact the Department of Education for a list of independent 43 schools and public schools.

1 [4054] 6 1 2 Section 59-63-625. (A) If a student meets the criteria in Section 3 59-63-620 and chooses to transfer from a failing public school: 4 (1) to another public school in his resident district but not in 5 his attendance area, the district shall adjust monetary differences 6 between the schools; 7 (2) to another public school outside his resident district and 8 if the receiving district accepts the transfer student, his resident 9 school district shall reimburse that district for the cost of his 10 attendance equal to seventy-five percent of the projected per pupil 11 cost as promulgated by the Office of Research and Statistics; or 12 (3) to an independent school, the Department of Education 13 shall issue a check to the parents or guardians and the independent 14 school they select for the lesser of an amount equal to seventy-five 15 percent of the projected state per pupil cost as promulgated by the 16 Office of Research and Statistics or the cost of tuition fees at the 17 independent school. 18 (B) Notwithstanding subsection (A) of this section or Section 19 59-63-620, if the student is determined by a school psychologist to 20 be physically or mentally handicapped and the special needs 21 student chooses to transfer from his school district: 22 (1) to another public school in his resident district but not in 23 his attendance area, the district shall adjust monetary differences 24 between the schools; 25 (2) to another public school outside his resident district, his 26 resident school district shall reimburse that district for the cost of 27 his attendance equal to the projected per pupil cost as promulgated 28 by the Office of Research and Statistics; or 29 (3) to an independent school, the Department of Education 30 shall issue a check to the parents or guardians and the independent 31 school they select for the lesser of an amount equal to the 32 appropriate pupil classification weighting for that student pursuant 33 to Section 59-20-40 multiplied by seventy-five percent of the 34 projected state per pupil cost as promulgated by the Office of 35 Research and Statistics or the cost of tuition fees at the 36 independent school. 37 38 Section 59-63-630. An independent school that accepts voucher 39 students pursuant to this article: 40 (1) shall comply with the federal anti-discrimination law, 41 pursuant to 42 U.S. Code Section 2000(d); 42 (2) shall meet state and local health and safety laws and codes;

1 [4054] 7 1 (3) shall comply with state statutes relating to independent 2 schools; 3 (4) shall employ or contract with teachers who hold a 4 baccalaureate or higher degree, or have at least three years of 5 teaching experience in a public or independent school, or have 6 special skills, knowledge, or expertise that qualifies them to 7 provide instruction in subjects taught; 8 (5) must be academically accountable to the parent or guardian 9 for meeting the education needs of the student; 10 (6) shall administer to all students a nationally recognized 11 achievement test and report the school’s aggregate score to all 12 parents; 13 (7) shall adhere to the tenets of the school’s published 14 disciplinary procedures prior to the expulsion of an Educational 15 Choice Program participant; 16 (8) shall accept voucher students who meet the admissions 17 criteria of the school on a random, religious neutral basis, without 18 regard to the student’s past academic history, with preference 19 given to siblings of other voucher students; 20 (9) may not compel a voucher student to profess a specific 21 ideological belief, to pray, or to worship; and 22 (10) demonstrate their financial viability by showing they can 23 repay any funds that might be owed to the State, if they are to 24 receive more than fifty thousand dollars in voucher payments 25 during the school year by filing with the Department of Revenue, 26 before the beginning of the school year: 27 (a) a surety bond payable to the State in an amount equal to 28 the aggregate amount of voucher revenue expected to be paid to 29 the school by participating families during the school year; or 30 (b) financial information that demonstrates that the school 31 has the ability to pay an aggregate amount equal to the amount of 32 voucher revenue expected to be paid to the school by participating 33 families during the school year. 34 35 Section 59-63-635. (A) A failing public school shall: 36 (1) notify the parent of a student if the school is considered a 37 failing public school pursuant to Section 59-63-610; and 38 (2) present the parent with his options of: 39 (a) sending the student to an independent school; 40 (b) sending the student to another public school; or 41 (c) keeping the student at the failing school. 42 (B) The parent of the student shall:

1 [4054] 8 1 (1) notify the Department of Education and the school 2 district of the decision to transfer the student from a failing public 3 school to an independent or public school, or from an independent 4 or public school back to another independent or public school; 5 (2) have access to the school’s aggregate testing 6 information; 7 (3) arrange for transportation of the student to the 8 independent school or to the district boundary or a mutually agreed 9 upon location, if the student chooses to attend a public school 10 outside his district. 11 (C) The student shall remain in attendance throughout the 12 school year, unless excused for illness or good cause, and comply 13 with the school’s code of conduct. 14 15 Section 59-63-637. The Department of Education shall make 16 voucher payment by check payable to the transferring student’s 17 parent or legal guardian and to the school at which the voucher is 18 to be used. The check may be delivered or mailed by the 19 Department of Education to the school at which the voucher is to 20 be used. All payees must endorse the check. The check may be 21 endorsed by the school on behalf of the student’s parent or legal 22 guardian if the parent or legal guardian has placed on file with the 23 school written authorization to endorse the check. 24 25 Section 59-63-640. Once a student transfers from a failing 26 school pursuant to this article, the student is eligible for the 27 voucher program until he graduates from high school regardless of 28 a subsequent change in the rating of the school from which he 29 transferred. 30 31 Section 59-63-645. If a qualifying student’s enrollment in an 32 independent school is terminated before the end of the school year, 33 the independent school shall pay to the State on a pro rata basis 34 any excess tuition paid. At the time of making the refund, the 35 independent school shall issue a receipt reflecting the date, 36 amount, and payee for each refund and shall provide a copy of the 37 receipt to the Department of Revenue. 38 39 Section 59-63-647. The Department of Revenue may 40 promulgate regulations to aid in the performance of its duties 41 pursuant to this chapter, however, its power does not extend to 42 matters of school governance, curriculum, hiring or firing, or 43 religious beliefs or practices.

1 [4054] 9 1 2 Section 59-63-648. The Department of Revenue may conduct 3 examinations and investigations whenever it believes that the 4 provisions of this chapter have been evaded or violated in any 5 manner. All powers possessed by the department as provided in 6 Title 12 to conduct examinations and investigations apply to 7 examinations and investigations conducted pursuant to this section. 8 9 Section 59-63-650. (A) Annually, the State Budget and Control 10 Board shall provide for the preparation of a report on the impact of 11 the implementation of this chapter on school enrollment and state 12 and local funding of public schools for the fiscal year most 13 recently completed. The report must include, but need not be 14 limited to, an analysis of and statement on the: 15 (1) change in public school enrollment, by school district, 16 attributable to this chapter; and 17 (2) amount of funds the State would have had to expend for 18 public schools under the education funding formula in existence on 19 or before the enactment of this chapter and the amount actually 20 expended by the State in public schools. 21 (B) The report must be submitted by December first of each 22 year to the Governor, the Chairman of the Senate Finance 23 Committee, the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, the 24 Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and the 25 Chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee. 26 27 Section 59-63-655. (A)(1) In addition to the annual report as 28 provided in Section 59-63-650, the State Budget and Control 29 Board shall provide for a long-term evaluation of the impact of this 30 chapter. The evaluation must be conducted by contract with one or 31 more qualified persons or entities with previous experience 32 evaluating school choice programs and must be conducted for a 33 minimum of five years beginning five years after enactment of this 34 section. The evaluation must include an assessment of the: 35 (a) level of parental satisfaction for parents of students 36 participating in the voucher program provided for in this chapter; 37 (b) level of parental satisfaction for parents of students in 38 failing public schools; 39 (c) academic performance of participating independent 40 schools and failing public schools; 41 (d) level of student satisfaction with the voucher program 42 provided for in this chapter;

1 [4054] 10 1 (e) level of student satisfaction for students attending 2 failing public schools; 3 (f) impact of the provisions of this chapter on public 4 school districts, public school students, independent schools, and 5 independent school students; and 6 (g) impact of the provisions of this chapter on school 7 capacity, availability, and quality. 8 (2) The evaluation must be conducted using appropriate 9 analytical and behavioral science methodologies and must protect 10 the identity of participating schools and students by, at a minimum, 11 keeping anonymous all disaggregated data other than that for the 12 categories of grade, gender, race, and ethnicity. The evaluation of 13 public and independent school students must compute the relative 14 efficiency of public and independent schools, the value added to 15 educational performance by independent schools relative to failing 16 public schools, and a comparison of acceptance rates into college, 17 while adjusting or controlling for student and family background. 18 (B) State and local government entities shall cooperate with the 19 persons or entities conducting the evaluation provided for in 20 subsection (A). Cooperation includes providing available student 21 assessment results and other information needed to complete the 22 evaluation. 23 (C) The State Budget and Control Board shall pay the cost of 24 the evaluation from funds available to it for that purpose except 25 that state funds used must not exceed four hundred thousand 26 dollars per year. 27 (D) By January thirty-first of each year, the State Budget and 28 Control Board shall provide to each member of the General 29 Assembly interim reports of the results of the evaluation. Upon 30 completion of the evaluation, the State Budget and Control Board 31 shall provide a final report to each member of the General 32 Assembly. At the same time as the final report is made public, the 33 persons or entities who conducted the evaluation must make their 34 data and methodology available for public review and inspection, 35 but only if the release of the data and methodology is in 36 compliance with 20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, Family Educational 37 Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. 38 39 Section 59-63-660. The provisions of this article regarding 40 independent schools only apply to independent schools that choose 41 to accept voucher students.” 42 43 PART IV

1 [4054] 11 1 2 SECTION 1. (A) A qualifying school that accepts students 3 benefiting from vouchers, grants, or tax credits is not an agent or 4 arm of the state or federal government. 5 (B) Except as provided by this act, the Department of 6 Education, Department of Revenue, Budget and Control Board, or 7 any other state agency may not regulate the educational program of 8 a qualifying school that accepts students pursuant to this act. 9 (C) One purpose of this act is to allow maximum freedom to 10 parents and independent schools to respond to and provide for the 11 educational needs of children without governmental control, and 12 this act must be liberally construed to achieve that purpose. 13 14 SECTION 2. If a section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, 15 sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held 16 to be unconstitutional or invalid, this holding does not affect the 17 constitutionality or the validity of the remaining portions of this 18 act, the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have 19 passed this act, and each section, subsection, paragraph, 20 subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, 21 irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, 22 subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, 23 phrases, or words thereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, 24 invalid, or otherwise ineffective. 25 26 SECTION 3. This act takes effect at the start of the first school 27 year beginning at least one year from approval of this act by the 28 Governor. 29 ----XX---- 30

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