Resounding 'no' to school voucher plan Resounding 'no' to school voucher plan (November 15, 2000)

Voters -- at the local, county and state level -- gave a resounding "no" to Proposition 38, which would have given parents a $4,000 tax-funded voucher each year to send their child to a private or religious school.

California voters defeated a similar voucher proposal in 1993.

Proposition 38 was primarily backed by venture capitalist Tim Draper of Atherton, who reportedly spent about $25 million of his own money in the losing campaign that raised a total of $31 million.

Opponents of Proposition 38, including the state's two largest teacher organizations and numerous educators, raised $29 million in what became probably the most heavily financed and expensive education campaign statewide.

Voucher backers claimed the proposal would provide an escape route for students in low-performing districts and expand choices for all children, including those in high performing private schools. Opponents argued that passage of the voucher proposition would drain money from public schools to subsidize the wealthy.

"Who knows what's ahead?" said Barbara Miller, research director for nonprofit EdSource in Palo Alto, which conducts research aimed a clarifying complex education issues. "There's evidence that California public schools are improving; the interest of California voters in vouchers was very low," she said.

However, there's a growing interest in having smaller schools, and academic literature shows that smaller schools are more effective, said Mrs. Miller.