FULLERTON : School Board Fights ‘Choice’ Initiative

Trustees for the Fullerton Joint Union High School District are unanimously opposed to a statewide ballot initiative that would channel state funds to any private or parochial school a student chooses to attend.

Board members voted last week to oppose the so-called “school choice” measure sponsored by the Excellence Through Choice in Education League. The initiative would provide state scholarships or vouchers worth at least $2,500 for every school-age child. The money could be used to pay private or parochial school tuition.

League members say the measure would provide middle- and low-income families with the opportunity to send their children to private schools now available only to the wealthy. Supporters say the measure would also increase the quality of education by promoting competition between private and public schools.

Many members of the group are California business people. Joseph F. Alibrandi, chief executive of Whittaker Corp., a Los Angeles-based aerospace equipment firm, is one of the leaders of the signature drive to place the measure on the November ballot.

Among those on the group’s advisory board are economist Milton Friedman; former U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett; John Tunney, a former U.S. senator from California, and former Wisconsin Assemblywoman Annette Williams, once a welfare recipient.

Fullerton school officials contend that the initiative would have a drastic impact on public education and argue that the transfer of money from public to private schools would be unfair and would violate the U.S. Constitution.

In many cases, they say, private education has less stringent teacher certification and student graduation requirements. In addition, they say, tax dollars would end up supporting religious groups, violating the separation of church and state.

It is “an abuse of democracy and an abuse of taxpayers’ resources,” board President Robert A. Singer said of the initiative.

District officials and the Fullerton Secondary Teachers Organization plan to counter the signature-gathering drive by urging residents not to sign the league petition. Ben Rogers, president of the teachers union, said that if it passes, the initiative will change “public education as we know it.”