Voters Didn’t Go Far Enough : Valley Residents OKd Public Safety Funding, but Rejected School Measure

On the major issues on election day this past week, voters in the San Fernando Valley echoed the sentiment of those in the rest of Los Angeles and the state to a remarkable degree. In the matter of two of the ballot initiatives, that was quite good and it ought to lead to a change in thinking on related issues. The vote on a third proposition, however, involving bond issues for school construction, was shortsighted.

According to figures compiled by Times reporter Jack Cheevers, voters in the four Los Angeles City Council districts that account for most of the Valley rejected the school voucher initiative (64% opposed) by nearly as much as their counterparts in the city (69%), and the state (70%). We refer to Proposition 174, which would have wrecked the public schools by subsidizing private ones with a $2,600-a-year voucher for each student. By so voting, Valley voters followed the lead of Gov. Pete Wilson, Mayor Richard Riordan and many others.

But if it was worth it to protect the public schools and the LAUSD in particular from the effects of a flawed, vague and ill-conceived voucher initiative, can’t it be argued that the LAUSD is worth saving, period? Valley residents are among the most vociferous backers of the move to dismantle the LAUSD. Those efforts have failed time and again. Perhaps it is time to devote those considerable energies to the goal of improving a school district that is badly in need of repair.

Similarly, with the wildfires providing the backdrop, Valley voters agreed by a 60% to 40% margin to extend an important half-cent sales tax for spending on public safety. But more of that kind of support from the Valley may be in order. Specifically, we refer to the LAPD and the plan offered by Mayor Riordan and Police Chief Willie L. Williams to expand it in size by several thousand officers. It is an expensive plan, and some measure of support for additional revenues may be required to implement it.

Along similar lines, Valley voters strongly rejected Proposition 170 (about 74% opposed), which would have lowered the threshold for voter approval of school bond issues to help build new schools. Had it passed, towns would have been allowed to vote to build their own schools by a simple majority rather than by a two-thirds margin.

Perhaps it took the valiant efforts of the firefighters to prove the merit of keeping that half-cent sales tax in place. It may take a worsening of the admittedly less dramatic problems of overly large class sizes and aging school buildings to convince voters that it ought to be easier to raise money to build new ones.