Declaration of legislative purpose

It is the purpose of the General Assembly in this chapter: (1) To guarantee to each student in the public schools of South Carolina the availability of at least minimum educational programs and services appropriate to his needs, and which are substantially equal to those available to other students with similar needs and reasonably comparable from a program standpoint to those students of all other classifications, notwithstanding geographic differences and varying local economic factors. (2) To encourage school district initiative in seeking more effective and efficient means of achieving the goals of the various programs. (3) To establish a procedure for the distribution of a specified portion of the state education funds so as to ensure that the funds are provided on the basis of need to the extent set forth by this chapter in order to guarantee a minimum level of funding for each weighted pupil unit in the State. (4) To make it possible for each school district to provide the defined minimum program within approximately five years from July 2, 1978, and to do so with an equal local tax effort. (5) To establish a reasonable balance between the portion of the funds to be paid by the State and the portion of the funds to be paid by the districts collectively in support of the foundation program. For the initial stage of this program the proportionate state share of the funds for this program shall be approximately seventy percent statewide and the remainder of the program shall be financed from local revenue sources. (6) To require each local school district to contribute its fair share to the required local effort, which is to be in direct proportion to its relative taxpaying ability. (7) To ensure that tax dollars spent in public schools are utilized effectively and to ensure that adequate programs serve all children of the State.