For Parents

ALEC gives (not so) Exceptional SC a “D-” for 2018

Permanent Law raises them from an “F” in 2016 & 2017.

Published

11 months ago

November 11, 2019

We are not the only ones that think the nation’s ONLY government run K-12 tax credit scholarship has been a total failure. The national conservative group American Legislative Executive Council (ALEC) has also rated the program a big fat “D-“.

Only “Permanent Law” which was signed on May 18, 2018 raised their grade from an “F” in 2016 & 2017 when the Department of Revenue & (not so) Exceptional SC took over administration of the program from independent non-profits. #FollowTheMoney!!!

Here is the ALEC report card on (not so) Exceptional SC.

And how does (not so) Exceptional SC compare to our neighbors in Georgia? Not so good. The $100 million Georgia program got a “B+”. And what is the main difference? Georgia uses independent non-profits!!!

Remember, South Carolina is the only program in the nation (23 total programs in 18 states) that is government run. All the others are administered by independent non-profits.

As the graph above demonstrates … the exact same South Carolina program got a “B” in 2014 … when the SC program was still a year-by-year budget proviso and run by independent non-profits.

The solution is simple and obvious to everyone … the only question is will legislators finally fix this debacle in the 2020 legislative session? Stay tuned …

For Parents

BRUTAL day at the Supreme Court – for the opposition!

Published

6 days ago

September 18, 2020

PALMETTOKIDSFIRST

SAFE Grants Case Update (09/18/2020): You never know which way it will go with our SC Courts, but after watching 1 1/2 hours of oral arguments before the SC Supreme Court today … this was BRUTAL!!!

You can watch the full video on our Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/123595537849390/videos/1041298452967887

The “farce” which is Governor McMaster’s (#Duped by #PaidAdvocates) July 20th announcement of a $32 million allocation of CARES Act money (TO PALMETTO PROMISE TO “MANAGE” … lol) was IMMEDIATELY sued on CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES and a temporary injunction granted by the trial court.

Due to the urgency of the matter, our SC Supreme Court took it up directly … and the hearing was today. Again … it was BRUTAL (for our opposition)!!!!

One issue … the SC Constitutional prohibition of “public funds” being used for the “direct benefit of any religious or other private educations institution” went worse than we even expected. The Chief Justice made it clear that he did not agree with Governor McMaster’s attorney. WOW!!!

The other big issue was whether CARES Act money was even able to be used for private schools. The Governor’s attorney argued that the Governor had “discretion” … using that word probably 20 + times … to which one Justice responded:

I had my law clerks do a word search of the CARES Act, and the word “discretion” does not exist in the entire document.

See what we mean by … BRUTAL!!!

THAT WAS NOT ALL … apparently, not one, but THREE Federal Court Judges have RULED AGAINST the use of CARES Act dollars for privates schools. That was a hot topic at the SC Supreme Court and when the Justices dove into the specific sections … yes, the Justices were prepared … it seemed plainly obvious to spectators that the Governor does not have the authority under the CARES Act (regardless of the SC Constitution) to direct this funding to private schools. BRUTAL!!!

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/09/11/911869208/devos-loses-latest-fight-over-rerouting-aid-to-private-school-students

ONCE AGAIN … kids not getting help because of the PAID ADVOCATES pushing a GOVERNMENT RUN private school choice solution to benefit their monied special interest donors. #FollowTheMoney #RealSchoolChoice #SchoolChoice!!! #Corruption #SafeGrants not safe!!!

THE SOLUTION?: Easy!!! This would NEVER happen (per rulings in the US SUPREME COURT & 20+ years of proven history) with K-12 Tax Credit Scholarships run by INDEPENDENT NON-PROFITS. The opposition does not like it, but it is the ONLY solution that works.

Another school choice debacle in SC … created by the “paid” advocates. Who would have guessed!?!?!

Hint … Governor McMaster …… STOP listening to the SPECIAL INTEREST!!!! Put our Palmetto Kids FIRST!!!

For Parents

More CHAOS at SCDOR … Delays AGAIN!!!

Published

2 weeks ago

September 7, 2020

PALMETTOKIDSFIRST

You guessed it … the SC Department of Revenue announced a “new” system for applying for the $2 MILLION of Parental Tax Credits this year … and then they DELAYED its roll-out by 3 + months!!!

DO THEY DO THIS ON PURPOSE??? What is this … the 5th year they have been doing this??? Still can’t figure it out???

Perhaps because they can’t copy any other state’s process … because NO OTHER STATE has this flawed refundable tax credit the like and size of the one in SC!!! Sure, a couple hundred dollars, apply for it on your tax return … but not this MESS that SC has.

Why? Simple … IT DOES NOT WORK (plus a host of other reasons)!!!

OH … and shouldn’t SCDOR & Director Hartley Powell be trying to figure out ways to ACCELERATE PAYMENTS to parents … especially during COVID-19? Not our SCDOR.

But then again … our SCDOR recommended #1 the GOVERNMENT RUN the program … and #2 THIS GUY hired Chad Connelly … so what would you expect.

By Law, SCDOR “administers” the program.
Hartley Powell HIRED Chad Connelly!!!
SCDOR “recommended” this change … will they fix it???

Stay tuned for more info … https://dor.sc.gov/exceptional-sc

For Parents

Which Children To Leave Behind???

Published

4 weeks ago

August 25, 2020

PALMETTOKIDSFIRST

Still NOTHING From Exceptional SC!!! It has been three weeks since #FireChadConnelly was let go and #RemoveTomPersons resigned from Exceptional SC Board.

We received the updated fundraising numbers from the SC Department of Revenue … and they are on track to raise “only” $1.6 MILLION in 2020.

So where is Exceptional SC???

The Fall Semester is here … the promised funding is not … there is not even a plan in place on what to expect …. no communications whatsoever!!! Politics over children … AGAIN?

We offered a solution … to raise the full 2020 available $12 million by 12/31 …. and next year’s available $12 million in early January 2021. That is $24 MILLION by 1/31/2021!!!

Yet we are hearing Exceptional SC Board Members are holding out … REMAINING SILENT for a PROMISED $7.5M “bonus”.

CARES ACT MONEY??? Rumor from legislators now is that the Governor is going to “give” Exceptional SC $7.5 MILLION from his CARES Act money. Where did they come up with that number? From the $7.5 MILLION that Chad Connelly LOST in 2019. Where is the logic there???

Well … a $7.5 MILLION free “bonus” would be nice … but we have heard these “rumors” many, many , many times before …

> 30 days ago we heard it was going to be $15 MILLION. What happened to that?
> We also heard our kids with “special needs” were going to be included in the $32.5 MILLION S.A.F.E. Grants. What happened there? We were left out.
> “If” this $7.5 MILLION was real … why not TELL PARENTS!?!?!?! Put it in writing??? Announce it!!!