SC businessman’s donation will help pay private K-12 tuitions for SC students using vouchers

COLUMBIA — A South Carolina philanthropist’s donation will help cover more of the private school tuition for some students who lost their taxpayer-funded scholarships following a state Supreme Court ruling.

Ravenel B. Curry III, co-founder of a financial planning firm, donated $500,000 to pay tuition for roughly half of the 700 students enrolled in private schools under the state’s voucher program, allowing those students to stay in their schools for the next quarter, according to the Palmetto Promise Institute.

“We are honored and profoundly grateful for Ravenel Curry’s generous gift,” Palmetto Promise Institute CEO Wendy Damron said in a news release.

Gov. Henry McMaster last year signed the law establishing so-called education scholarship accounts, providing parents $6,000 a year in public funds to pay for tuition, transportation, supplies or technology at either private schools or public schools outside a student’s district.

Then in September, the state Supreme Court declared the payments violated the state constitution’s ban on public money directly benefiting private education.

By that point, the state had already deposited the first of four, quarterly $1,500 installments into parents’ accounts. While the court did not require schools to pay back that money, it did halt payments for private tuition, leaving families scrambling to keep from having to transfer their children back to public school.

The money was available only to Medicaid-eligible students this school year, so the parents were less likely to be able to afford tuition on their own.

The Palmetto Promise Institute, which for years had pushed for the law, stepped in with fundraising support.

Billionaire donor covering K-12 private tuition after SC court rejected vouchers

This latest donation from Curry follows a $900,000 donation last month from Jeff Yass, a Pennsylvania billionaire who co-founded a global investment firm. That money helped keep students in their chosen schools until the end of this semester, the Palmetto Promise Institute said.

Whether the conservative think tank will be able to raise the money to cover tuition for the remaining students, or for all students during their final quarter of school, remains to be seen.

“This contribution is not just a gift to these families,” Damron said. “It’s an investment in the long-term health of South Carolina’s school choice movement and a powerful example of the impact individuals can make to keep this issue at the forefront of public policy.”

The money will go directly to schools, not to parents, said the Palmetto Promise Institute.

The Catholic diocese for South Carolina also has been raising money to keep 195 students who lost their school vouchers in the group’s 32 schools.

While the high court’s ruling stopped payments for private tuition, it left other parts of the law intact, allowing the quarterly payments to parents’ accounts to continue for other expenses such as tutoring and books. It also allows sign-ups for the program to continue for next year, when income eligibility expands to 300% of the federal poverty level. In 2026-27, parents who make up to 400% of the poverty level can qualify.

But the ruling gutted the purpose of helping parents pay for private tuition.

Republican leaders in the state House have cited reinstating the taxpayer-funded scholarships as a priority for the coming legislative session starting in January.

Legislators could try to pass a new law in the hopes that a court with a different makeup gives a different decision. They could also ask voters in 2026 whether the state constitution’s ban on public money benefiting private schools should be removed.

Opponents of the program have called on legislators to find other ways to improve the state’s education system instead of continued attempts to pass school choice laws.

“I just wish in South Carolina we could focus on our public institutions,” Sherry East, president of the South Carolina Education Association, said previously. “I wish we’d stop attacking them and work on making them stronger.”