School choice heats up House campaign

The questions of school choice, tax credits for private school tuition, and vouchers made front-page news in the June 2 edition of the Spartanburg Herald-Journal in South Carolina, where veteran lawmaker Bob Walker was being challenged by Joey Millwood. Bob became chairman of the House Education Committee a few years ago, so he brought some particular expertise to the newspaper's education questions.

Millwood is in favor of tax credits for parents who choose to send their children to private schools, while Walker is opposed to that as well as vouchers.
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Walker balked at Millwood's contention that South Carolina ranks last in the country overall in education.

"We're not 50th ranked in the United States. That is totally false," Walker said. "There are those that are condemning our public education that want people to think that."

And the Herald recognized the work that Bob has done on education issues.

Walker said he is in favor of choice within the public school system, citing the bill he introduced allowing students to cross district lines without paying extra fees, but he is not in favor of giving taxpayer money to enable students to attend private schools. Walker added that, now that South Carolina homeowners no longer pay a property tax toward the public schools, no extra funds should be allotted for private-school costs.

"They now have that money in their pocket to pay for the tuition or fees for private schools," Walker said. "So those that are sending their kids to private schools benefited in that tax cut that we made for property tax on the homeowners."

So it was especially odd that Millwood questioned Bob's representation of his constituents on this issue, and even more odd because of the record of Spartanburg County's schools.

Millwood, meanwhile, strongly believes in supporting parental choice despite the fact Spartanburg County schools rank among the best in the state.
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On a personal level, Millwood attended Z.L. Madden Elementary School, which he pointed out is now closed, and Whitlock Junior High School. "I would have appreciated if my parents had a choice," Millwood said.
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Walker's major criticism of the voucher and tax-credit system is that they are exclusive, and that supporters of the system lack accountability for every child.

"They want the money but they don't want to be held accountable," Walker said. "They want to pick and choose who they can use (the money for), and that's the real issue behind it. I think that's the key point in this whole thing, is whether those that want those public funds agree to the accountability and agree to taking any child, not charging extra funds, and I haven't seen any indication from those who are promoting vouchers and tax credits that they're willing to do those things."

"Candidates at odds on education issues," Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, SC) - June 2, 2008