January 15, 2009 10:23AM 

# Now’s the Time To Pass School Choice 

By [Adam B. Schaeffer](https://www.cato.org/people/adam-b-schaeffer) 

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Gov. Mark Sanford is really on a roll lately, decrying and rejecting [bailouts](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122670755063129989.html) and now recommitting to real education reform. From the *[Beaufort Gazette](http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local/v-print/story/674763.html)*:

> The Republican governor highlighted four priorities in education reform: enacting funding that “follows the child,” charter school funding, school choice, and access to higher education.

Of course, the government school fanatics are trying to head him off again. Rep. Kenneth Hodges, D‑Green Pond, for instance, thinks “now is not the time to toy around with school choice again… not in the environment that we are in now.”

Hmm. Fiscal problems, slow economy, and school choice has been shown [over](http://www.friedmanfoundation.org/friedman/research/ShowResearchItem.do?id=10079) and [over](http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/815288.html) to save money. In fact, a large-scale program could [save](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9515) South Carolina taxpayers over *$1 billion*.

It’s the *perfect* time to pass a robust education tax credit system in South Carolina, or anywhere else for that matter.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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