Helping Schools--and Not Helping

There are two propositions on the ballot Tuesday that directly concern voters who care about schools. One is Proposition 174--a half-baked formula for beginning, in effect, the privatization of public schools by offering parents vouchers for private schools. And the other is Proposition 170, a constitutional amendment giving localities the right to pass bond measures by a simple majority.

Citizens who care about improving public schools, which are open to all, will want to understand that these two decisions are linked. Proposition 174 should get your “no” vote, of course, and voters who wish to be consistently logical in their ballot decisions on public policy will want to vote “yes” on 170. Right now, localities cannot pass school bond measures with less than two-thirds of the votes. In effect, this means that a one-third minority, a mere 33%, can frustrate the will of the majority. Some school bond measures have gotten 64% or 65% of the vote-- and have therefore failed to be enacted.

Voting for 170 is not a vote to raise taxes; it is a vote to enhance local control. It shouldn’t be the case that a third of voters can effectively frustrate the desire of the majority to sell local bonds to improve the local schools.

Voting against 174 is a statement that one is not prepared to dismantle public schools; voting for 170 is a statement that local communities should be able to decide, by simple democratic majority, how much they wish to spend on their public schools. Not on anything else--just the kids’ schools.