Sword Over the Public Schools : Voucher initiative could gravely wound an already ailing system

Parents want what’s best for their children, and that includes schools. So, the “Parental Choice in Education” initiative may appear tempting to families who want to send their children to private schools. But more than being pro-private schools, the measure is aggressively hostile to public schools.

Proponents will be in a final push over the next several days to qualify the initiative for the November ballot. The measure would provide state-financed scholarships, or vouchers, of about $2,500 to every child who left the public schools. That drain of public funds--coming at a time when a massive state deficit precludes significant new spending on education--would severely damage California’s overburdened public schools.

These scholarships would not be based on need, and could funnel millions of public dollars into private schools with no public oversight.

Private schools that were the beneficiaries of public funds would not be required to meet state standards on curriculum or teachers’ credentials. Unlike the public schools, private schools would be under no obligation to educate poor children or those with special needs. That kind of highly selective “choice” is unfair when public money is involved.

Since the voucher drive began, the educational Establishment has reacted with greater vigor to the restlessness among parents who demand better for their children, and that’s all to the good. Promising legislation has been introduced that would create “charter” public schools that could be operated outside of the often cumbersome bureaucracy of a school district. The state’s private and parochial schools have an important role to play in educating California’s youth. But this nation’s public education system was built as an alternative to private schooling open only to the chosen few. Before California puts its scarce public money to the benefit of private schools, it must first strengthen and reform its public schools. This measure would boost private schools at the expense of public schools, at a time when they can least stand the kicking.