The Senate is set to take up the School Choice Bill (H.4894)!Five Senators on a special Finance Subcommittee will serve as the “gatekeepers” for this popular, proven and long-overdue reform. These men need to hear from you right now.

Members of the subcommittee – a majority of whom have voted against school choice in the past- can block the bill from reaching a roll call vote on the floor. They need to hear from you right away.

Tell these lawmakers:

• School choice is AFFORDABLE. These programs have saved all taxpayers money in other states, and do no harm to traditional public school budgets since most funding for K-12 education is not “tied” to the students.
• School choice is ACCOUNTABLE, because independent schools answer directly to parents who can control where their children attend. Private schools across the state already use stricter standards and tougher testing than the public schools.
• School choice is ALREADY WORKING in other states, where tens of thousands of low-income and special needs students are now attending the school of their family’s choosing.

1. Contact these lawmakers – tell them to pass the bill out of committee without amendment when they meet tomorrow morning (Wednesday, May 9) in the Gressette Building, Room 105 at 9:00am.

2. Submit a brief letter to the editor to the newspapers within their senate districts – remind them that school choice is affordable, accountable, and already changing lives in other states.

Senator Robert W. Hayes, Jr.
District 15, York County
Statehouse (803) 212-6410 WesHayes@scsenate.gov
District (803) 324-2800 rwhayes@comporium.net

Rock Hill Herald (jwerrell@heraldonline.com)
Enquirer-Herald (jallen@enquirerherald.com)
Fort Mill Times (lnews@fortmilltimes.com)
Lake Wylie Pilot (news@lakewyliepilot.com)

Senator Larry Grooms
District 37, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton & Dorchester Counties
Statehouse (803) 212-6400 LarryGrooms@scsenate.gov

Post and Courier (letters@postandcourier.com)
Lowcountry Today (editor@lowcountrytoday.com)
Goose Creek Gazette (fjohnson@ourgazette.com)
Moultrie News (editor@moultrienews.com)
Colleton Press and Standard (Publisher@colletontoday.com)
Summerville Journal Scene (jwatts@journalscene.com)
Dorchester Eagle Record (eagle_record@bellsouth.net)

Senator David L. Thomas
District 8, Greenville County
Columbia (803) 212-6240 DavidThomas@scsenate.gov
District (864) 271-6371 david@dlthomaslaw.com

Greenville News (letters@greenvillenews.com)
The Journal Watchdog (lriddle@journalwatchdog.com)
Tribune Times (tletters@tribunetimes.com)
Times Examiner (thetimesexaminer@bellsouth.net)
TR Monitor (trnews@bellsouth.net)
Greer Citizen (JFair@greercitizen.com)

Senator Phil P. Leventis
District 35, Lee & Sumter Counties
Columbia (803) 212-6000 PhilLeventis@scsenate.gov

Sumter Item (letters@theitem.com)
Lee County Observer – 218 N Main St, Bishopville, SC 29010

Senator John W. Matthews, Jr
District 39, Bamberg, Colleton, Dorchester, Hampton & Orangeburg Counties
Columbia (803) 212-6056 JohnMatthews@scsenate.gov
District (803) 829-2383

Times and Democrat (opinion@timesanddemocrat.com)
Bamberg Advertizer-Herald (ahpublisher@bellsouth.net)
Colleton Press and Standard (Publisher@colletontoday.com)
Hampton County Guardian (news@hamptoncountyguardian.com)