Countywide : Schools Take Stand Against Prop. 174

School boards throughout Orange County approved resolutions this week denouncing Proposition 174, the school voucher initiative.

Each of the resolutions stated that the voucher initiative would have a “detrimental impact” on the “district’s schools and on the educational opportunities of the children and parents they serve.”

School boards in Brea, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Irvine, Placentia-Yorba Linda and Orange adopted the statements.

The initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot would give parents vouchers worth $2,600 for each child in kindergarten through 12th grade that could be used at any voucher-redeeming public, private or parochial school.

Garden Grove Unified School District board members unanimously approved the resolution after hearing a staff report that stated the district could lose as much as $25.5 million in state funding if Proposition 174 passes.

Armon Akerboom, president of the Garden Grove Education Assn., urged the board to oppose Proposition 174. He called the initiative “badly flawed” and said the district would immediately lose about 10% of its funding.

The initiative, Akerboom said, also would permit voucher schools to discriminate against students on the basis of religion, sex and physical disabilities.

Such schools could bar those with educational impediments, such as students with disabilities, while siphoning money from public schools.

“We’d hurt the kids who need help most,” Akerboom said.

But Sean Walsh, a spokesman for El Segundo-based A Better Choice, defended the school voucher plan Wednesday as “absolutely a good idea.”

The argument that voucher schools could discriminate against certain groups of children is “not a valid concern,” he said.

Discrimination based on race would be prohibited. Having more schools devoted to a specific sex or religion would be an asset for parents who believe their children would be best served by such schools, he said.

Furthermore, disabled students would be able to attend a wider range of schools especially designed to serve them as a result of the initiative, Walsh said.

Discrimination against disabled students would not be a problem because voucher schools would receive extra money for serving such students, creating a financial incentive to do so, he said.

The Irvine Unified School District would lose at least $1 million to $2 million if voters approved the initiative, said Deputy Supt. Paul Reed. The school board approved the measure unanimously.

Officials in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District expect to lose anywhere from $1 million to $10.5 million in state funding if the measure is approved.

The Orange Unified School District passed the resolution on a 6-1 vote, with Trustee Maureen Aschcoff opposing the statement.

The resolution was approved on a 4-1 vote by Fountain Valley School District trustees.

Trustee Julie Hoxsie voted against the resolution, saying the board should remain neutral on the issue.

School officials said the district would lose at least $1.9 million in state funds.

Brea-Olinda Unified School District officials expect to lose $2 million if Proposition 174 is passed.

The school board unanimously approved the resolution.