VENTURA : Voucher Plan Allies Speak Out

Supporters of the school voucher initiative gathered in Ventura on Monday in an attempt to show that support for Proposition 174 is still strong, organizers said.

With only a week left before the election, the speakers clustered around a microphone in front of the County Government Center and took turns stating their reasons for supporting the sweeping proposal.

“The public school system has failed to accomplish its primary mission of providing all students with a good education,” said Karen Boone, trustee for the Ventura County Community College District.

Boone and other speakers reiterated the main arguments of the pro-voucher campaign, saying the proposal to offer $2,600 vouchers to all students who attend private schools would spur competition that would ultimately improve public education.

Vouchers, supporters said, would also give parents the power to choose where to send their children to school.

Besides Boone, other elected officials at the press conference included Simi Valley City Councilwoman Sandy Webb and Wendy Larner, a board member of the county superintendent of schools office.

Representatives from the New Republicans of Ventura County, the Pro-Family Caucus, an association called Concerned Women for America and the Thousand Oaks chapter of United We Stand, the group inspired by Ross Perot, also spoke in support of the initiative.

Although no opponents of Proposition 174 were on hand to counter the speakers’ views, one county worker eating a sandwich on a bench nearby said she is against the voucher measure.

“Citizens are guaranteed a public education,” said Joanne Wolfe, a management assistant for the county clerk. “That’s what they get. If they want any more, they have to pay for it.”

Anti-voucher forces argue that the initiative would financially devastate the state’s public school system, costing at least $1.3 billion just to give vouchers to the 550,000 students already in public schools.

Because existing private schools in California have little room for more students, Proposition 174 would encourage new schools with untrained staff to spring up across the state, anti-voucher forces say.