COLOMBIA – South Carolina’s highest court on Wednesday declared its rejection of Governor Henry McMaster’s plan to spend federal coronavirus money on private school scholarships.
The unanimous decision of the SC Supreme Court strikes yet another blow to the Republican Columbia’s months-long effort to direct $ 32 million in aid under the federal CARES Act to a program that would pay for poor and working-class children to attend private K-12 schools. in South Carolina this year.
Nor does the decision offer assistance to 22 private colleges in South Carolina, including historically black colleges and universities, which sought an exception to the decision so they could raise about $ 12 million in aid for the coronavirus.
Now, it appears that private colleges, as well as private elementary and high schools, will lose money under Federal CARES Act, especially as the December 31 deadline for South Carolina to spend the money or lose it is fast approaching.
“I am very disappointed with the decision,” said McMaster on Wednesday afternoon. “Most importantly, I am disappointed by the nearly 5,000 students from working or low-income families who will have denied any financial assistance under the CARES Act.”
The governor said he was also disappointed with South Carolina’s private colleges. He said his office has developed a backup plan to use the money to help economically disadvantaged students in South Carolina.
Public school supporters saw the decision as a victory.
“The Supreme Court’s opinion, affirmed today, is an unambiguous statement of the prohibition of our state constitution from using dollars for public education K-12, allocated in any form, to private schools,” said Scott Price, executive director of the School Council of SC Associação. “SCSBA has consistently advocated that our state concentrate its limited public resources and all its efforts to ensure that each student attends a public school that any parent would choose for their child. South Carolina students deserve no less.”
The high court overturned McMaster’s grants for “Safe Access to Flexible Education” in early October, unanimously ruling that the Columbia Republican program was unconstitutional because it spent “public funds for the direct benefit of private educational institutions.” McMaster, along with private colleges in South Carolina and the United States Department of Justice, filed a petition with the Supreme Court to reconsider the decision.
The Supreme Court reconsidered, but then issued an opinion on Wednesday that was almost identical to its previous decision.
They rejected McMaster’s argument that SAFE grants are not a direct benefit of the state government to private schools, noting that the money would flow directly from the state treasury to those schools.
“We found that there is no clear intention by Congress in the educational provisions of the CARES Act to allow the governor to allocate GEER funds at his discretion, in violation of our State Constitution,” wrote the judges.
The lawsuit was filed by Skyler Hutto, an Orangeburg lawyer who argued that federal coronavirus money should be spent in public schools in SC, not in private schools.
Hutto said the Supreme Court simply maintained the state constitution in determining that public money should go to public schools.
“This may seem like common sense to some, but it is an important decision for the integrity of our school system,” he said.
The money in question comes from the CARES Act, passed by Congress earlier this year to keep companies, government agencies, schools and individuals afloat during this year’s pandemic-induced recession.
McMaster’s office received nearly $ 48.5 million in funding from the CARES Act to drive as he wanted. The Columbia Republican decided to spend $ 32 million to provide grants of up to $ 6,500 this year to underprivileged students attending private schools.
McMaster said he wants to give more families the option of sending their children to private schools this fall, especially if their own schools are not reopened for face-to-face classes because of the pandemic.
McMaster called on all schools in SC to reopen five days a week this fall, but many opted for virtual instruction or hybrid models with a mix of face-to-face and remote learning.
Spencer Jordan, executive director of the SC Independent Schools Association, said he was not shocked by the decision and understands the court’s reasoning, although he said it would have been a good gesture to provide more options for disadvantaged students this year.
“We never really count on these funds,” said Jordan.
The previous decision also questioned the SC Legislative’s decision to allocate $ 12 million in funds under the CARES Act to private colleges. These schools testified that they needed that money to buy equipment, upgrade technology and cover other unforeseen expenses that came with teaching students this fall in the midst of a pandemic.
Following the initial Supreme Court decision, the State Administration Department, the agency that distributes South Carolina federal money for coronavirus relief, said it would not distribute the money because it believed the decision would apply to private colleges, as well as private schools K-12.
These colleges joined McMaster and the Justice Department to ask the higher court to reconsider or clarify its decision. SC’s independent colleges and universities have also asked the court to make its decision by November 15, because the money must be spent before the December 31 federal deadline.
“We have the deepest respect for the court, but we are disappointed that it did not clarify that the case was about a K-12 program and had nothing to do with higher education,” said Jeffrey Perez, chief executive of the state-owned private group. of colleges. “Without this clarification, the Department of Administration will not allow independent colleges and universities to have access to federal funding.”