SANTA ANA : Initiative Denounced by School Districts

The Rancho Santiago Community College and Santa Ana Unified School districts each passed resolutions last week denouncing the “Parental Choice in Education” ballot initiative as potentially crippling to public education.

The initiative would grant parents vouchers worth $2,500 for each of their children in kindergarten through 12th grade that could be used to help pay tuition at a private school. The resolutions charged that the initiative would drain up to $2 billion from public schools statewide.

“Essentially what this would do is put the final nail in public education’s coffin,” Rancho Trustee Pete Maddox said. While the initiative purports to improve education, he said, “what it really does is limit the cost of private education for those who can afford it.”

The Rancho resolution assails the potential loss of hundreds of educational programs and thousands of college classes throughout the state, as well as crucial job training. It further states that until studies address the impact of such legislation, “the potentially ruinous and chaotic effect on the future of California is far too great a risk to take.”

The Santa Ana school district resolution also warned of discrimination by private schools against minorities.

Rancho trustees voted unanimously to oppose the initiative, and the Santa Ana Unified board voted 4 to 0 to join the opposition.

Board member Rosemarie Avila abstained, saying later that she “didn’t feel it was proper” for the board to take a public stance on a political issue. “But whether this resolution is the right one or not,” she added, “the public is sending a real message that we do need to change some things in our educational system.”

Other districts that have recently opposed the initiative include Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified, Tustin Unified, Huntington City, Huntington Union High School, Ocean View and Westminster.