Suit Challenges South Carolina Grants To Private School Students

As reported by The Island Packet, a South Carolina state court judge in Adams v. State of South Carolina, (SC Com.Pl., July 21, 2020) has issued a temporary restraining order (full text) prohibiting the distribution of  Safe Access to Flexible Education (SAFE) Grants until a July 29 hearing in the case.  The grants are in the form of one-time tuition vouchers for low-income families sending their children to  private schools (including religious schools). They are funded through the federal CARES Act.  In a complaint (full text) filed July 21, a taxpayer contends that the grants violate the ban in the South Carolina constitution on the expenditure of public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution. The complaint alleges that the grants will give private school students some 13 times as much as the amount received per public school student under the CARES Act.