South Carolina Supreme Court Sets Legal Precedent for Education Choice
Press Release: For Immediate Release
September 12, 2024
For more information or to schedule an interview, contact:
Kate Brown
buzzbybrown@gmail.com | 202-213-7051
South Carolina Supreme Court Sets Legal Precedent for Education Choice
Court invokes Milton Friedman’s vision of an open and competitive marketplace
COLUMBIA, SC—The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in Eidson v. SC Department of Education that parents may not use South Carolina’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund Program (ESTF) to pay tuition and fees at private schools—but they may use the program to pay for other educational services, including tutors, technology help, therapies for students with disabilities, and transportation.
ESTF is an education savings account program available to South Carolina K–12 students of limited means who previously attended public schools. By its terms, ESTF permits families to pay for educational expenses, private school tuition, and approved education goods and services. Under today’s ruling parents may no longer use the program for private school tuition but may still use it for other educational services.
“We disagree with the Court’s decision, which misunderstands the South Carolina Constitution’s text, history, and precedents,” said Thomas M. Fisher, Vice President and Director of Litigation at EdChoice Legal Advocates. “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.”
Critically, the South Carolina Supreme Court faulted the program because it “does not open the market for the scholarships to all public and private institutions, but only those the Department chooses and only for students who agree not to attend a public school in their district.” Excluding use of ESTF to pay for transfer to a different public school left only private schools as potential recipients of tuition payments under the program. “This is not the kind of free trade envisioned by Adam Smith or Milton Friedman,” the Court wrote.
Nobel laureate Milton Friedman and his wife, economist Rose D. Friedman, created the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice in 1996. In 2016 the organization changed its name to EdChoice, Inc. The Partnership for Educational Choice, a joint project of EdChoice and Institute for Justice, filed an amicus brief in the South Carolina Supreme Court supporting ESTF, which constitutes a critical step by the South Carolina legislature to improve educational opportunities for families in the state.
“The South Carolina Supreme Court just observed in a majority judicial opinion what Milton Friedman and EdChoice have been saying all along—education freedom means a range of choices for families among district public schools, charter schools, private schools, and à la carte education providers,” said Robert Enlow, President and CEO of EdChoice. “We are enthusiastic about helping lawmakers expand educational choices to provide parents with even more options for their children.”
EdChoice, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to advance educational freedom and choice for all students as a pathway to successful lives and a stronger society, launched EdLA in 2023 to defend school choice programs in the states.
To be connected with Robert Enlow, Thomas Fisher or someone from the Institute for Justice, contact Kate Brown at buzzbybrown@gmail.com.
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