A South Carolina high school student last week asked the state’s highest court to quickly clear the way for millions of federal stimulus dollars to flow to schools by ending Gov. Mark Sanford’s ability to decline the money.
The lawsuit by Casey Edwards, 18, against the state echoes the views of educators who have predicted hundreds of teacher layoffs if officials don’t use $700 million in federal cash earmarked by Congress mostly for schools.
If the governor can’t be cut out of the process, it says, then state lawmakers should be able to spend the money anyway.
Ms. Edwards, a senior at Chapin High School in Chapin, said she wants other students around the state to get the same top-notch education she did. Joel Sawyer, a spokesman for Mr. Sanford, a Republican, said the governor had not seen the filing and there would be no comment until his lawyers had a chance to review it.
The suit filed April 16 asks the state court to clarify that Congress allowed state lawmakers to take the money without a governor’s nod.
