Copyright© 2000 by School Services of California, Inc.

June 23, 2000

School Voucher Initiative Qualifies for November Ballot

As expected, the Secretary of State's office has announced that a voucher initiative authorizing annual state payments of at least $4,000 per pupil to parents who enroll their child in a private or religious school has qualified for the November 7, 2000, statewide ballot.

Proponents of the initiative, led by former State Board of Education member Tim Draper, submitted more than 1.15 million signatures to the Secretary of State in early May (see Update article dated May 26, 2000, "California's Community Colleges Cannot Sit on the Voucher Sidelines," page 126). The Secretary of State validated over 823,000 signaturesCfar more than the 670,816 signatures required for placement on the November ballot.

On July 3, 2000, the Secretary of State will issue a news release inviting written arguments and rebuttals to the initiative with a July 11 deadline. The proposition number assigned to the initiative will likely be announced the week of July 7. As currently proposed, the initiative would appear in the ballot pamphlet as "School Vouchers. State Funded Private and Religious Education. Public School Funding. Initiative Constitution." The summary can be found on www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_j.htm. However, the title and summary could be revised if challenged in court by either the proponents or opponents.

The campaign to defeat the voucher is already underway, with Governor Gray Davis and all the major statewide education organizations publicly expressing opposition to the initiative on the basis that it will harm public schools by draining resources. Late Thursday, June 22, the Governor held a press conference and pledged his "strenuous efforts" to defeat the measure at the polls, indicating that he would help with the campaign against the initiative in any way, including appearing in commercials and writing letters. School groups and other opponents of the measure are hoping to raise at least $20 million for their efforts to defeat the initiative. For SSC's analysis of the initiative, please see the April 14, 2000, Update article titled "State Voucher Initiative Likely to be on November Ballot," page 94.

--Nancy LaCasse