IRVINE : School Finance Issue to Be Aired on Cable

The Irvine Unified School District will hold a public forum tonight, shown live on cable TV, to discuss the proposed “parental choice” statewide ballot initiative.

The initiative, which proponents hope to qualify for the Nov. 3 ballot, would allow more parents to choose the school their children attend by requiring the state to pay $2,500 a year to any school, public or private, that parents designate.

Tonight’s forum will begin with Supt. David E. Brown describing the proposed constitutional amendment. Afterward, audience members, including those at home watching cable Channel 3, will be able to ask questions and to share their views with school board members.

The hourlong forum will be shown on the local-access cable channel beginning at 7:30 p.m. Telephone numbers to call at that time are (714) 651-1691 and (714) 651-1702.

School board members wanted to hold the forum as a way to prompt public discussion on the proposed ballot initiative, Brown said. The forum will be held at the beginning of the regular school board meeting.

Many public school educators across the state have come out against the proposed initiative. This month, the Fullerton Joint Union High School District Board of Education passed a resolution against the proposed ballot measure.

Initiative proponents say the measure would allow lower- and middle-income parents to afford to send their children to private schools for the first time. The educational competition would force public schools to improve or vanish, they argue. The measure would also give more parents the financial means, they say, to send their children to religious schools.

Opponents say the measure would allow the best and brightest students from middle- and upper-income families to attend private schools. But poor students and students requiring special educational programs will be left at public schools because $2,500 might not be enough money to cover the tuition at a private school.

The proposal also is bad, they argue, because private schoolteachers do not need to be certified by the state and private school buildings do not have to follow state safety guidelines, such as for earthquake reinforcement.

Brown said he will try to remain objective when describing the proposed “choice” initiative. Still, he said, “I will admit up front to having a bias.”