Provisions of School Voucher Initiative

The League of Women Voters of the Beach Cities is opposed to the School Voucher Initiative, Proposition 174, which would permit taxpayer money to be used to fund private and religious schools. Public funds should not support private schools nor schools which are allowed to discriminate on the basis of gender, religion, ability and disability.

The League has always been a proponent of quality education. We believe that assuring a good education for every child is a fundamental obligation in our society and is the hallmark of a democracy. This initiative contains no provisions for meaningful school reform such as reduced class size, higher quality of instruction, increased parental involvement and improved student behavior. Nor is there any requirement for accountability to the public as to how the taxpayers’ money is spent.

Proposition 174 is designated by its proponents as a “parental choice” measure. A careful reading of this proposed constitutional amendment reveals that the important choices will not be made by parents. It will be others who make the crucial choices: the schools, which will choose to accept or reject their students; the state Legislature and bureaucracy, which will choose how to implement and administer the initiative’s provisions, and the courts, which will probably be asked to make the ultimate choice as to the constitutionality of this measure.

This deceptively simple measure offers false hope and bogus choice. The LWVBC urges you to make the right choice and vote no on 174.

JOANN KENNELLY

First vice president

League of Women Voters of the Beach Cities