The Committee on Ways and Means proposes the following Amendment No. to S. 935 (COUNCIL\DG\935C001.NBD.DG22):
Reference is to Printer's Date 3/30/22-H.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION1. This act may be referred to as the "Parental Choice in Education Program".
SECTION2. Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Chapter 8
Education Scholarship Trust Fund
Section 59-8-110. (A)As used in this chapter:
(1) 'Cost of attendance' means the published tuition, fees, textbooks, and fees for transportation paid to a fee-for-service transportation provider as approved by the Education Oversight Committee for the student to travel to and from an eligible school as defined in this section, but not to exceed seven hundred and fifty dollars for each school year, but does not include tutoring.
(2) 'Department' means the Department of Education.
(3) 'Eligible school' means a South Carolina public school or an independent school that chooses to participate in the program, accepts qualifying students, and instructs students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade. An eligible school does not include charter schools.
(4) 'Independent school' means a school, other than a public school at which the compulsory attendance requirements of Section 59-65-10 may be met and:
(a) offers a general education to elementary students;
(b) does not unlawfully discriminate in the admissions process on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, or national origin with the exception that schools serving a single sex may participate provided they meet all other requirements;
(c) is located in this State;
(d) has an educational curriculum that includes courses set forth in the state's diploma requirements, and where the students attending are administered national achievement or state standardized tests, or both, at progressive grade levels to determine student progress; and
(e) has school facilities that are subject to applicable federal, state, and local laws .
(5) 'Parent' means the natural or adoptive parent or legal guardian of a child or a foster parent pursuant to Section 59-63-31.
(6)(a) 'Qualifying student' means a student who is a resident of this State who has not earned a high school diploma and is between kindergarten and eighth grade and is:
(i) enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or Medicaid or be a member of a household with an income at or below the South Carolina upper income limit for CHIP; and
(i i)is entering kindergarten or first grade; or
(ii i) was previously enrolled in and attended a South Carolina public school during one of the three school years immediately preceding the school year in which the student would be enrolled under this program.
(b) For purposes of this item, a qualifying student's sibling also is considered to be a q ualifying student provided that he meets the qualifications set forth in this chapter, and his parent elects to enroll him in the program.
(c) Students participating in the Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children's Fund program as provided in Section 12-6-3790 are not considered to be qualifying students for the purposes of this chapter.
(d)A qualifying student also includes up to five hundred students whose parent is an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States.
(e) A qualifying student also includes up to five hundred students that are entering kindergarten and were enrolled in the South Carolina Early Reading Development and Education program in the immediately previous school year.
(7) 'Scholarship account' means the individual student account that is established by the department for each qualifying student.
Section 59-8-120. (A)There is created the 'Parental Choice in Education Scholarship Fund' that is separate and distinct from the state general fund. The fund must receive and hold all funds allocated for it as well as all earnings until disbursed as provided in this chapter. Monies received in the fund must be held by the Office of the State Treasurer and must be used to provide scholarships to qualifying students attending eligible schools to provide for the cost of attendance and qualifying expenses.
(B)The department is responsible for keeping records, managing accounts, and disbursing scholarships awarded pursuant to this chapter. Information contained in or produced from a tax return, document, or magnetically or electronically stored data utilized by the department in the exercise of its duties as provided in this chapter must remain confidential and is exempt from disclosure pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. Personally identifiable information, as described in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, of children applying for or receiving scholarships must remain confidential and is not subject to disclosure pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.
(C)By January fifteenth of each year, the department shall report to the General Assembly and the Governor:
(1)the number and total amount of scholarships issued to qualifying students in each year;
(2)programmatic information that includes, but is not limited to, where qualifying students attend eligible schools;
(3)a copy of a compilation, review, or audit of the fund's financial statements, conducted by a certified public accounting firm; and
(4)the number of applications for scholarships by county.
Section 59-8-130. (A)The department shall ensure that qualifying students participating in the program and their parents annually are informed of which eligible schools are participating in the program. The department shall create a standard application process for parents to establish the eligibility of their student for the program. The department shall ensure that the application is readily available to interested parents through various sources, including the Internet.
(B)(1)The department shall set a deadline for the receipt of applications. In the event the number of eligible students exceeds five thousand by the deadline, the department shall use a lottery system to award scholarships. Students already participating in the program are automatically approved for participation in the immediate subsequent year.
(2) If the number of students is less than five thousand by the deadline, then any student meeting the requirements of Section 59-8-110(6)(A)(ii) or (iii) may apply to the program. however, priority must be given to students who have an adjusted gross family income of four hundred percent or less of the federal poverty guidelines as promulgated annually by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
(C)The department shall provide the parent of a qualifying student participating in the program with a written explanation of the allowable uses of an account, the responsibilities of the parent, an d the duties of the department.
(D)Qualifying students participating in the program may return to their resident school districts at any time, providing the least disruptive process.
(E)A school shall report to the department if a student withdraws from the program.
(F)The department shall adopt rules and procedures as necessary for the administration of the program.
Section 59-8-140. An eligible school may not refund, rebate, or share the scholarship account of a qualifying student participating in the program with his parent or with the qualifying student.
Section 59-8-150. Funds received pursuant to this chapter do not constitute taxable income to the parent of a qualifying student participating in the program.
Section 59-8-160. (A)In the first year in which the account is funded, scholarships may be awarded in an amount not exceeding five thousand dollars to a qualifying student at an eligible school to be disbursed up to two thousand five hundred dollars each semester. The department may not issue debit cards, but shall distribute funds through an online system directly to a qualifying student. The department shall procure a system that can create the scholarship accounts and process cost of attendance and qualifying expenses.
(B )(1)Before awarding a scholarship, the department shall document the student's eligibility with the following documentation:
( a)a card issued in the student's name from the Department of Health and Human Services for Medicaid eligibility or Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility;
( b)other documentation as the department may require to demonstrate that the family income is equal to the poverty level of Medicaid eligibility;
( c)a record to provide that the student's parent is an active member of the Armed Forces of the United States; or
( d)documentation that the child was enrolled in the South Carolina Early Reading Development and Education program.
( 2)Upon approving the application, the department shall create an online account for the qualifying student that the parent or legal guardian can access using a secure portal. The individual student account must be created within thirty days of approval of the application.
(3) If a qualifying student leaves or withdraws from the eligible school for any reason before the end of the semester or school year and does not reenroll within thirty days, or if the qualifying student graduates from or chooses to permanently leave a qualifying school, then the balance in the scholarship account must be credited to the Parental Choice in Education Scholarship Fund.
(4) Any funds not expended in an individual student's scholarship account at the end of the school year will be carried forward into the next school year and expended for the same purposes.
Section 59-8-170. ( A)The Education Oversight Committee will approve independent schools for participation in the program that meet all program requirements. Once a school is found eligible to participate in the program, it is presumed eligible for the remaining two years unless the Education Oversight Committee finds otherwise. The independent school shall certify to the Education Oversight Committee that it continues to meet all program requirements. The Education Oversight Committee shall develop an application to be completed by the independent schools.
( B)By March first of each year the Education Oversight Committee shall publish on its website a comprehensive list of independent and public schools certified as eligible schools. The list must include each eligible school's name, addresses, telephone numbers, and, if available, website addresses.
( C)An independent school that is denied certification pursuant to this chapter may seek review by filing a request for a contested case hearing with the Administrative Law Court in accordance with the court's rules of procedure.
(D)The Education Oversight Committee shall grant an exemption to an eligible school from participating in the program if the eligible school can show that it has space limitations and is unable to accept additional students.
(E)The Education Oversight Committee may prohibit a school from participating in the program if the Education Oversight Committee finds that the participating school has:
(1)routinely failed to comply with the accountability standards established in this chapter; or
(2)failed to provide the eligible student participating in the program with the educational services funded by the account.
(F)If the Education Oversight Committee decides to prohibit an eligible school from participating in the program, then the Education Oversight Committee shall notify qualifying students participating in the program and their parents of this decision as quickly as possible.
( G)The Education Oversight Committee shall approve a list of fee-for-service transportation providers that a qualifying student may utilize.
Section 59-8-180. Except as otherwise provided, the Department of Education and the Education Oversight Committee, or any other state agency, may not regulate the educational program of an independent school that accepts students receiving scholarship grants pursuant to this chapter.
Section 59-8-190. The Education Oversight Committee and the department shall collaborate to develop and administer an annual program survey to all parents of qualifying students regarding the effectiveness of the fund. Results must be provided to the General Assembly by December thirty-first of each year.
Section 59-8-200. Unless reauthorized by the General Assembly, the provisions of this act only apply to school year 2022-2023 through school year 2025-2026. Any funds remaining in the Parental Choice in Education Scholarship Fund after school year 2025-2026, must be credited to the contingency reserve fund and the newly created fund must be dissolved."
SECTION3. There is allocated seventy-five million dollars from the contingency reserve fund to the Parental Choice in Education Fund to be used as described in this act.
SECTION 4.If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this act is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this act, the General Assembly hereby declaring that it would have passed this act, and each and every section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words hereof may be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid, or otherwise ineffective.
SECTION5. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Amend the bill further, after the title but before the enacting words by inserting:
/Whereas, in 1970, the State of South Carolina enacted the Tuition Grants Program to award needs-based grants for students to attend the independent college of their choice. Since 1970, 450,000 grants totaling $988 million have been awarded to deserving students; and
Whereas, in 1999, the State of South Carolina enacted First Steps to School Readiness, a program for low-income children to attend independent, prekindergarten programs; and
Whereas, in 2013, the South Carolina General Assembly passed its first K-12 choice program, the Exceptional SC Scholarship, a tax credit scholarship to assist children with special needs that was made permanent law in 2018; and
Whereas, in establishing the Education Scholarship Account Act, the South Carolina General Assembly intends to further enhance educational opportunity for all South Carolinians across the prekindergarten through higher education spectrum by providing parents with state funds that will allow them to access the K-12 education that works best for their child; and
Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly intends for these state funds to belong to parents, and for parents to use these funds in furtherance of personalized education to meet the needs of their child and as a direct benefit to their child; and
Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly intends to promote student achievement by making South Carolina the most student-centered State in the nation by increasing student participation in, and student access to, effective educational opportunities, both within and outside of their resident school district, regardless of where they live or their socioeconomic status; and
Whereas, the South Carolina General Assembly intends that the provisions of this chapter be construed broadly as a direct benefit to students to maximize parental choice options and student access to customized, high-quality educational opportunities presently unavailable to their children. Now, therefore,/