COLUMBIA, SC — South Carolina’s top school leader suggested that the state eliminate money for a group dedicated to teaching the public about the Holocaust, but lawmakers said Tuesday that is a budget cut they are not willing to make.Mick Zais, the state superintendent of education, recommended cutting the $31,000 the state pays to the South Carolina Council on the Holocaust as part of $71 million in savings he recently proposed for the Department of Education. Republican and Democratic lawmakers said they will work to preserve the council’s funding in the upcoming $5 billion budget, despite the more than $800 million budget gap facing the state.”Yeah, we have to make tough decisions, but to eliminate this would be a poor decision,” said Sen. Joel Lourie, a Columbia Democrat and the Legislature’s only Jewish member.Lourie’s late father, Isadore,was a 28-year lawmaker who helped establish the council.Lourie joined Jewish and non-Jewish advocates, including many from Charleston, last week to testify before House budget writers, following Zais’ Jan. 19 budget presentation.Rep. Dan Cooper, a Piedmont Republican and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he expects the funding to stay intact, with lawmakers looking elsewhere to handle cuts to public schools.