Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman voiced his opposition to California's Prop. 38, the Draper school voucher initiative, in an exclusive interview in the Los Angeles Times Aug. 18.
Lieberman, who has supported more limited, targeted voucher proposals in the past, says he opposes the Draper school voucher initiative because it is too extreme and will abandon California's public schools.
"As I understand this proposition in California, it is not means-tested," Lieberman told the Times. "I can't see how it would not drain the public schools of large amounts of their financial support. That's why I would not support it. Our hope is that we should make our public schools excellent for all of our children, including the poorest children."
Before winning NEA's endorsement during the Representative Assembly in July, Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore assured delegates that he would "never, ever support private school vouchers."
"I think they are a mistake that drains money away from public schools. We need to give more resources to our schools and build them up, instead of draining money away."
Describing vouchers as "a false promise," he said they "only help those who can already afford the tuition, and they do not give a realistic alternative to those who cannot."
Gore's running mate is not the only voucher proponent to take a stand against Prop. 38. Others include the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, John Coons and Stephen Sugarman of the conservative Pacific Research Institute, and Stanford University scholar Terry Moe.
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has joined the coalition of community, ethnic and business organizations - as well as parents and educators - who have come together to fight Prop. 38. Among the coalition members are, in addition to CTA, the California State PTA, the California State Board of Education, the California Business Roundtable, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the League of Women Voters.
Lavonne McBroom, president of the California State PTA, says Prop. 38 "creates a new system of unregulated, taxpayer-funded voucher schools that are not required to meet many of the state's new educational standards."
The State Board of Education voted unanimously to oppose the initiative because "Proposition 38 allows for the opportunity for discrimination against students on the basis of gender and ability to pay. It moves resources away from the community colleges and health care, child care and public safety. And it cuts across all precepts and principles of this board that we have stood for as we've developed a system of accountability."
