AFC Congratulates South Carolina’s Senate and House Education Chairs for Negotiating Landmark School Choice Bill

Dallas, Texas – The American Federation for Children congratulates South Carolina Senate Education Chairman Greg Hembree and House Education Chairwoman Shannon Erickson for forging a viable path toward landmark school choice legislation.

Statement from Ryan Cantrell, Vice President of Government Affairs, American Federation for Children:

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Chairman Hembree and Chairwoman Erickson for their patient and calm leadership in negotiating a bill that dramatically expands school choice in South Carolina. In addition, we thank State Superintendent Ellen Weaver for her support throughout this process. Every family deserves to choose the educational setting that is the best fit for their child regardless of their ZIP code. Thanks to these leaders’ tireless efforts, we expect school choice will soon become a reality in South Carolina.”

Key elements of the milestone agreement:

• Ensuring 85% of South Carolina K-12 students could participate by setting the initial income eligibility requirement at 300% of Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPL), later expanding program eligibility to families earning 500% FPL
• Prioritizing participants from the previous year, siblings of current Education Scholarship Trust Fund Program students, children of active-duty military, households at or below 300% FPL, and students who attended public school during the previous school year
• Eliminating the requirement for participants to have attended public school in the prior year, ensuring that middle- and working-class families already in private school would no longer be penalized
• Increasing the ESA scholarship value from $6,000 to $7,500, a figure that would be annually adjusted for inflation

About AFC:

The American Federation for Children is the nation’s largest school choice advocacy organization and the most successful force for education freedom in America, passing over 200 laws across 31 states throughout our history. Our affiliated Super PAC, AFC Victory Fund, is the only nationwide Super PAC focused on advancing school choice.

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