Judge Blocks Schools on Voucher Bid
A Superior Court judge has temporarily barred the Los Angeles Unified School District from opposing a school voucher initiative being proposed for the November ballot.
Judge Robert O’Brien’s temporary restraining order, issued Friday, prohibits the use of district money and equipment to advance opinions on the proposed initiative, and forbids the district to rebroadcast a March 2 meeting in which school board members approved a resolution opposing it.
Attorney Manuel Klausner requested the order on behalf of the Choice in Education League and the National Tax Limitation Committee, which are gathering signatures to qualify the initiative.
Richard Mason, an attorney for the school district, said board members can legally take a position on the ballot measure and denied that the district had done anything wrong. “We . . . believe that what the board did was perfectly legitimate.”
If approved by voters, the ballot measure would allow parents to receive state vouchers worth $2,500 to send their children to private schools. Opponents say it would siphon money from the underfunded public education system.
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