School Districts Go Too Far on Initiative : * Yes, Oppose Vouchers, but Not With Public Money

Public educators in Orange County find themselves in a tough spot over the proposed Parental Choice in Education initiative.

Many are voicing strong opposition because they surmise correctly the damage lurking in such a proposal for the health and well-being of the public education system. Providing vouchers, which are really state-financed scholarships, of about $2,500 to every child who left the public school system would be devastating. The public schools, which must provide for everyone, and not just the privileged few, would be hurt severely.

However, as eager as school officials in the county are to get the word out, there is a difference between making that argument and using public money to broadcast it.

John F. Dean, county superintendent of schools, recently laid the case out on these pages, and some districts are passing resolutions to signal their opposition to the voucher system. Fair enough.

But the bitter public relations battle over the initiative recently moved to county courts. Proponents sought to forbid school districts from using public money or other public resources to speak against the measure.

In a decision that was Solomon-like in its identification of the separate issues, Superior Court Judge C. Robert Jameson recently ordered two county school districts to stop using public money to build opposition to the initiative. In the very same breath, however, he wisely turned away a petition to prevent the boards from taking a stand at all.

It may be difficult for school districts that feel threatened to refrain from using whatever microphone is available to them to get the word out, in the same way that a congressman uses franking privileges to “educate” the public on an issue. The Saddleback Valley Unified School District in Mission Viejo and the Magnolia School District in Anaheim had both indicated opposition to the initiative by including information in publicly financed newsletters.

The judge was particularly critical of Magnolia; in addition to including a copy of its opposing resolution in its newsletter, it went so far as to urge parents not to sign the proposed initiative on the ground that it would “lead to chaos in public education.”

Well, the message the school officials wanted to convey was correct, but the publicly financed method of distribution of that position was wrong. So the initiative sponsors were at least correct in pointing out that the use of taxpayer dollars to interfere in a political process is unacceptable.

Still, the right of the districts to go on record against the initiative is a matter worth upholding. Indeed, the stakes for public education are quite high. As Dean points out, there would be roughly a $117-million hit, in the loss of public funds, for Orange County if the voucher system went into effect.

This is, after all, a false “choice” issue; voucher-redeeming schools could play by a different set of rules, restricting enrollment, operating outside regulations and free of requirements that they educate poor children or those with special needs.

Moreover, the public schools already are under the gun to provide more services with fewer dollars. The need is to make public schools better, not gut them and restrict their ability to operate fully.

There is a place for private and parochial schools, of course; they play an important role.

But they must not be helped at the expense of public schools, which need all the help they can get.