Local residents are big donors to state school propositions Local residents are big donors to state school propositions (November 01, 2000)

**Web site lets voters "follow the money."

Want to know who is really behind state ballot initiatives? The California Voter Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, has a list of the 10 biggest donors to campaigns for and against the eight propositions on next week's ballot at its site, www.calvoter.org.

Local residents are prominent on the top 10 lists for several propositions, notably Prop. 38 (school vouchers) and Prop. 39 (passing school construction bonds on a 55 percent vote).

Atherton resident Tim Draper has earned a place in California history by donating $18.1 million to the campaign for Prop. 38, making him the largest single donor in the state's history of ballot propositions, according to CVF. His father, Atherton venture capitalist Bill Draper, kicked in $2 million to the campaign, earning the third spot on the list. William Edwards of Menlo Park came in at sixth with his contribution of $35,000.

The California Teachers Association's PAC nearly matched Mr. Draper's contribution with a donation of $17.9 million to the campaign against Prop. 38, putting it in the No. 1 spot on the top 10 anti-Prop. 38 list.

Local residents dominated the ranks of top donors to the campaign for Prop. 39, which would allow school facilities bond measures to pass with a 55 percent majority, rather than the two-thirds majority currently required.

Woodside resident and venture capitalist John Doerr and his wife Ann Howland Doerr are at the top of the list, donating $3 million each. Vinod Khosla, a general partner at Menlo Park's Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, occupies fifth place with a $1 million donation that was matched by the firm, where Mr. Doerr is also a partner.

Woodside's Scott Cook, founder of Intuit, and his wife Signe Ostby, donated $998,994 to the yes on Prop. 39 campaign. Donald and Doris Fisher of Atherton gave $500,000 each, and John Morgridge of Portola Valley, the chairman of Cisco Systems, contributed $471,250.

Brian Kangas Foulk, the Redwood City-based architecture and development firm that is designing Phillips Brooks School's Woodside campus, made the list of top donors to the campaign for Prop. 35 with a contribution of $154,000. Prop. 35 would eliminate restrictions on state and local governments' ability to hire private companies for architectural, engineering and construction projects.

The top 10 lists are based on campaign finance disclosure reports and include contributions made through September 30.