Tag Archive: Private School Options for All

House and Senate Reach School Choice Agreement in “Magic Amendment”

Education
Blog · April 16, 2025

Today, April 16, is a momentous day for the school choice movement in South Carolina. After weeks of negotiations between leaders in the House and Senate, we have now finally seen the resulting amendment on S.62, the bill to restore South Carolina’s ESA program—the Education Scholarship Trust Fund. The “magic amendment” was presented today in

Private Donors Help Low-Income Kids Stay In Schools Of Their Choice

Education
Blog · March 13, 2025

This article by Patrick Gleason originally appeared in Forbes. The South Carolina Supreme Court issued a decision last September to strike down the state’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF), upending a new education savings account (ESA)-style program enacted by South Carolina lawmakers the prior year. The ESTF program struck down by the South Carolina Supreme

Historical Record Proves ESAs are Constitutional: The Story of Governor John West and His Rosetta Stone

Education
Blog · March 12, 2025

To justify its decision striking down Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) grants for low- and moderate-income K-12 students in September of last year (2024), the South Carolina Supreme Court presented a Palmetto State history lesson, but it was a perverse one. In the majority’s peculiar characterizations of South Carolina’s past, the words of arch-racist Ben

South Carolina House passes school choice bill, moving state closer to restoring school choice

Education
Blog · February 27, 2025

This piece by Adam Whittenberg originally published in The Lion cites Palmetto Promise’s ESTF Family Rescue Fund work. South Carolina is one step closer to restoring school choice after the state House passed a school choice plan Wednesday. By a 79-38 vote, the Republican-controlled House approved a plan to fund private school scholarships from the general budget.

House Education Committee Advances Universal ESA Bill

Education
Blog · February 20, 2025

This week, the House Education & Public Works Committee held a hearing on the bill that would restore school choice in South Carolina following the SC Supreme Court’s decision that left thousands of SC families with their promised scholarships ripped away. S.62 as passed by the South Carolina Senate would reinstate Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs)

South Carolina’s New School Choice Bill Lags Behind Tennessee and Texas

Education
Blog · February 11, 2025

We are grateful to the South Carolina Senate for its recent passage of S.62, a bill by Education Chairman Greg Hembree that aims to restore school choice in South Carolina following the SC Supreme Court’s Eidson decision that left thousands of SC families with their promised scholarships ripped away. The legislation passed after several weeks

New Poll Shows Americans Are Committed to Educational Freedom

Education
Blog · December 17, 2024

A newly-released national poll conducted by yes. every kid. foundation. shows the steadfast support Americans have for education policies that prioritize choice and flexibility.   Have you ever thought of the K-12 education system as flexible?  Most Americans don’t, according to these poll results.  And yet Americans (and parents in particular) crave flexibility in education, and

The First Step to Save SC School Choice

Education
Blog · December 12, 2024

“I’ve been asked, ‘Why are you in such a rush? Why are you in such a hurry? What’s the urgency on this?’ And I’ll be really clear about that. You’ve got a couple thousand students out there that are right in the middle of the school year. They have made that transition to an independent

Time to junk the ESA? Not so fast, my friend.

Education
Blog · October 4, 2024

Yesterday evening, the lame duck South Carolina Supreme Court surprised no one with the announcement that they weren’t interested in rehearing Eidson et al. v. South Carolina Department of Education et al., the legal proceeding also known as “the ESTF case” or the “the school choice case” (or, incorrectly, the “school voucher case”).  To some,