SC lawmakers didn’t know $1.5 million was for private ‘school?’ Is that some sort of joke?

Only South Carolina lawmakers could claim they didn’t know exactly how $1.5 million was going to be spent before giving it away — and then believe that’s a legit defense for the boondoggle.

The attempt to distance themselves from the initial intent of the giveaway shows the need for reforming the state’s budget process to ensure money isn’t being wasted and spent in ways that are against this little thing called the South Carolina Constitution.

Lawmakers who supported giving $1.5 million in public money to Christian Learning Centers of Greenville are now claiming they didn’t know the centers were going to build a school with the money and that it isn’t actually building a school despite “school” being written all over the proposal for the spending.

In a report by The State’s Zak Koeske, Rep. Mike Burns, R-Greenville and Rep. John McCravy, R-Greenwood said “they hadn’t read the proposal before sponsoring the project, which the General Assembly included in its annual spending plan, but that preliminary discussions with the group had not involved a school.”

So a couple Republicans, who presumably believe in fiscally conservative government, gave away more than a million dollars without taking a look at the paperwork?

My neck has a kink it from shaking my head so hard.

They didn’t read the proposal? They should have because that’s their job. Or they’re lying to our faces.

In fact, they didn’t start backtracking from the irresponsible donation of $1.5 million until after Koeske’s reported on this spending.

The money for the centers’ “school” is a problem for so many reasons. One is the state constitution explicitly bars public money from going to private and religious schools. With all the debate about education in South Carolina, that part of the constitution is well known among lawmakers, or it should be.

The lawmakers can’t claim ignorance about what Christian Learning Centers were doing.

They should have known the centers’ plans because it sent a detailed proposal to the governor’s office that said it was going to build a “school.” It was complete with details about a “residential school facility” and how many “students” the dorms would hold. Certainly legislators got that plan or should have requested it.

Burns even called the project a “Residential School” in a letter to the governor about the project.

The ignorance plea is hard to believe. What’s easier to believe is that these lawmakers were trying to get around the constitutional ban through an earmark, which is essentially pet project spending that gets less scrutiny than normal state budget items. If the lawmakers had succeeded in slipping the money to the organization, they could have gone to evangelical voters and pandered for support.

It’s not terrible for these legislators to believe in the mission of Christian Learning Centers. The group says it takes at-risk youth and teaches them about the Bible. While non-Christians might not agree with specifics of the centers’ mission, most people would support giving troubled kids shelter and support. But that general support can’t come with a $1.5 million state donation when public schools could put that money to far better and more efficient use.

South Carolina needs to reform earmark spending for the exact reasons demonstrated in the Christian Learning Centers case.

Lawmakers should not get to fund pet projects with state money. State money shouldn’t be funneled through less-scrutinize means. And a path shouldn’t exist for lawmakers to fund religious education when the state and country forbids aiding the establishment of religion.

Christian Learning Centers claim it was misunderstood. Although the proposal submitted to the governor’s office said the group was going to build a school, the group is now saying it never intended to build a school. Instead, the buildings will house tutoring, counseling and recreation activities.

Those sound a lot like the services a school provides. In fact, public schools already provide those services for a lot more students. Just think how many children could be helped if just one school in South Carolina’s infamous Corridor of Shame received $1.5 million more from the state for tutoring, counseling and recreation activities.

If Christian Learning Centers didn’t articulate its plan in a comprehensible manner it doesn’t deserve $1.5 million.

And consider this. Koeske reported that the centers’ annual revenues were about $450,000, citing state and federal tax records.

South Carolina is going to give the organization more than triple what it usually brings in? That’s absurd. Not only that, Burns and McCravy were willing to give them that insane amount without even knowing what the organization was doing with the money.

Could anything scream fiscal irresponsibility and demand earmark reform more than that?

Get on making that reform, lawmakers. You can’t claim ignorance about needing it.