Dive Brief:
- The use of South Carolina taxpayer dollars to fund private school tuition and fees in a newly implemented K-12 voucher program is unconstitutional, the state’s Supreme Court ruled in a 3-2 decision Wednesday.
- The ruling said part of the statewide program — known as the Education Scholarship Trust Fund — violated South Carolina’s constitution, which says, “No money shall be paid from public funds nor shall the credit of the State or any of its political subdivisions be used for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.”
- The Education Scholarship Trust Fund has enrolled nearly 3,000 students for the 2024-25 school year and provides up to $6,000 per eligible student. Despite the ruling, the education savings account funds may still be used for tutoring and other education services, the South Carolina Department of Education told NC Newsline.
Dive Insight:
The ruling in Eidson et al. v. South Carolina Department of Education is a setback for school choice advocates in the state, including Gov. Henry McMaster, who said in a statement Wednesday that he plans to request the court to “expeditiously reconsider this decision.”
“The Supreme Court's decision may have devastating consequences for thousands of low-income families who relied on these scholarships for their child's enrollment in school last month,” McMaster said. "It may also jeopardize the future enrollment of tens of thousands of students in state-funded four-year-old kindergarten programs and state-funded scholarships utilized by students at private colleges and HBCUs.”
McMaster signed the Education Scholarship Trust Fund Act into law in May 2023, and the program began this school year.
The plaintiffs in the case included the South Carolina Education Association and the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP. The ruling confirms “that public funds are confined for public education,” said Sherry East, president of the South Carolina Education Association, in a statement.
Along with tutoring, other education uses covered by South Carolina’s ESA program include technology that serves students’ education needs, educational services for students with disabilities and transportation fees.
The decision to halt the state program from providing private school tuition assistance comes as participation in similar programs like education savings accounts or tax credit ESAs grow in popularity nationwide. Enrollment in such programs has surged from 19,211 to 470,801 participants between 2019 and 2024, according to pro-choice advocacy organization EdChoice.
Thomas Fisher, vice president and director of litigation at EdChoice Legal Advocates, said in a statement that the organization disagrees with the South Carolina Supreme Court’s decision. “ESTF does not directly benefit schools. It directly benefits families, who decide through their voluntary choices whether a child’s ESTF dollars go to a school or elsewhere.”
