Yesterday, Thursday, Jan. 30, the South Carolina Senate passed S. 62, the K-12 Education Lottery Scholarship Fund program, intended to replace the Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF). Following the state Supreme Court’s September 2024 ruling that recipients could not use program funds for nonpublic school education, the bill passed by a vote of 32-12 (see how your senator voted HERE).
In response to the news, Michael F. Acquilano, J.D., director of the South Carolina Catholic Conference, released a statement.
“As we celebrate National Catholic Schools Week and National School Choice Week, we see God’s providence in the timing of our Senate passing the new education savings account program,” Michael Acquilano said. "We also applaud this important step towards restoring educational freedom in South Carolina.”
This marks a necessary step towards reinstating academic choice in education. We thank Sen. Greg Hembree, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, for proposing this bill and Sens. Rex Rice and Larry Grooms for co-sponsoring.
We also thank the Palmetto Promise Institute and the South Carolina Department of Education for the support they have offered to the diocese and to our schools.
For the program to be passed into law, the House of Representatives must also pass the bill, then send it to Gov. Henry McMaster for signature. We are hopeful and pray that both will act quickly to restore school choice for South Carolina families and students.
History was made this National Catholic Schools and School Choice Week!