BURLINGAME - Today's U.S. Supreme Court ruling holding that a small Cleveland voucher plan is constitutional does not change the fact that voucher schemes - twice rejected by California voters in recent years - abandon public schools that educate 90 percent of the nation's children, says California Teachers Association President Wayne Johnson.
"The court's ruling that the Cleveland voucher plan is constitutional doesn't mean that vouchers are fair or that they increase student achievement," said Johnson. "Vouchers hurt neighborhood schools and are a dead issue in California, where teacher quality, smaller class sizes and high academic standards are top priorities for teachers and parents."
The 330,000-member CTA led the fight against a voucher initiative plan rejected by 71 percent of voters in 2000. Voters killed another California voucher scheme in 1993 by about the same overwhelming numbers, Johnson noted.
"Californians see the voucher movement for what it is - a transparent attempt to privatize public education and abandon the struggling public schools that need the most help," Johnson said.
Johnson made these additional points:
- A National Education Association study of the track record of voucher schemes shows a failed history of broken promises in Cleveland, Milwaukee and Florida (see the NEA research at www.nea.org/issues/vouchers/02voutrack.html ).
- The California Alliance for Public Schools (CAPS) filed an amicus brief in the Cleveland case because vouchers undermine public education and the accountability of taxpayers' money used to fund them (see the CAPS Web site voucher data at http://www.ourpublicschools.org/.