Copyright© 2000 by School Services of California, Inc.
The Education Propositions-Schools Go Three for Three
Prop 35-Little Understood, but the Voters Got It Right!
Proposition 35 was probably one of the most controversial and little understood issues on the November 7th ballot. Just figuring out which side of the issue was closest to the status quo was difficult. Both sides claimed that failure to vote their way would result in higher costs and delays for capital construction, including highway and school projects. In the end, the voters got it right and voted 54.8% to 45.2% in favor of the measure.
Education organizations were split on the measure largely because of the awkward wording of the initiative and the list of supporters and opponents. Traditional advocates for education were listed on both sides of the issue. Simply put, a "no" vote would have left the question of whether school districts could contract with private firms for architectural and engineering services to the courts if the current practice was ever challenged. The Public Engineers in California Government (PECG) union was the leading opponent of the measure in an effort to force school districts and other government agencies to use PECG union employees for these services.
The "yes" vote, which prevailed, settles the question once and for all and makes it clear that school districts and other public agencies are clearly allowed to use private firms. Both the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH) and California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) actively supported the measure.
This vote preserves the right of school districts to make local decisions about how schools will be designed and promotes local control-themes that we believe benefit local school districts.
Voucher Initiative Goes Down to Horrendous Defeat
With all California's precincts counted, voters have resoundingly defeated Proposition 38, which would have established a voucher system for California schools. The proponents received only 29.3% of the state's vote and lost by almost four million votes. The proponents were trounced in every county of California with the highest percentage of "no" in counties as diverse as San Francisco, Alameda, Ventura, and Imperial.
Tim Draper, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who bankrolled Proposition 38, invested $23 million of his own money in trying to establish for California a system for funding private school enrollments with a $4,000 annual tax-supported voucher. The California Teachers Association invested an almost-equal amount in opposing the initiative, and a total of $55 million is reported as having been expended through October 21st, still two weeks before the election.
In addition to the California Teachers Association, all of the education establishment, numerous business organizations, and even the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association opposed the voucher initiative. Their strong opposition statements, plus the Legislative Analyst's comments that the initiative would cost $2 billion annually if 300,000 of California's six million school students had accepted vouchers, led to the resounding rejection.
Tim Draper, according to the Sacramento Bee, bravely stated that, "We're going to regroup, and we're going to keep coming back." A regrouping after that kind of a shattering defeat would seem to pose a difficult long shot.
State Voters Authorize Schools to Adopt School Bonds with a 55% Approval Rating
Proposition 39 has passed by more than a 600,000-vote margin. Final results from the Secretary of State's office show that the coastal and urban counties in California approved the initiative overwhelmingly, while the rural North State and the San Joaquin Valley generally opposed the initiative. Thus, after three attempts in the last decade, California's State Constitution is finally amended to authorize California schools to adopt school facility bonds by less than a 2/3 majority. School Services has collected statistical information on all bond elections for California school districts since 1986 and our records show that 89% of the 817 school bond elections that have been held in that period of time would have passed if the 55% threshold had been in place. Under prior law, only 54% were properly adopted.
Appreciation is especially appropriate for the strong efforts by the business community, led by John Doerr and Reed Hastings. Additionally, we all owe a great deal of gratitude to State Senator Jack O'Connell, the California Chamber of Commerce, and Governor Gray Davis for their exceptional work in ensuring that Proposition 39 was adopted. For Senator O'Connell, particularly, this victory marks the end of more than a decade of tireless campaigning to lower the bond threshold.
Under provisions of the initiative, the lower threshold for local agency bond adoption is effective as of certification by the Secretary of State that the initiative has been adopted.
Additional election returns and statewide maps on all propositions can be
obtained at the Secretary of State's website: www.ss.ca.gov/ and click on
"Elections and Voter Information."
--Ron Bennett and Ken Hall