After the polls closed Nov. 7, no one was sure who would ultimately win the presidency, but one thing became absolutely certain in short order: Tim Draper's voucher initiative, Prop. 38, had gone down in flames. And nobody could have been happier than the teachers and education supporters who showed up for CTA's election night vigil in Los Angeles.
Flanked by teachers and coalition members, Johnson discusses the victory at a news conference.
As the returns rolled across giant screens, finally declaring that nearly 71 percent of the voters had said no to Prop. 38, it became clear that the millions of dollars Draper spent and the falsehoods he spread about public schools didn't fool the people of California. Voters showed they wanted to improve the public schools, not destroy them.
Sharing the elation are CTA Vice President Barbara E. Kerr, Executive Director Carolyn Doggett and President Wayne Johnson.
Vouchers were rejected in every community. Despite large amounts of advertising that the Yes campaign targeted at Latino and African American voters, Latinos rejected vouchers by nearly 2 to 1, and African Americans rejected them by 3 to 1.
Watching the returns are CTA Board members.
Some political pundits credit the anti-Prop. 38 campaign with turning out pro-education voters en masse, which ensured the passage of pro-education initiatives and candidates. One example is Prop. 39, which will allow communities to pass school bonds with 55 percent of the vote, rather than two-thirds. The measure, which received 53 percent approval on Election Day, will make it easier to fix up dilapidated facilities and build new schools.
In addition to putting the state securely in presidential candidate Al Gore's column, the broad bipartisan coalition of which CTA was part helped elect pro-education candidates in all of the NEA-targeted congressional races, including Jane Harman (CD 36), Adam Schiff (CD-27), Susan A. Davis (CD-49) and Mike Honda (CD 15). The majority of state legislative races, local school bond measures and school board elections went CTA's way as well.
"We have to give credit to the teachers who worked so hard to make this overwhelming victory happen," said an elated CTA President Wayne Johnson. "We are gratified that the public recognizes that vouchers are not the solution to problems in underperforming schools."
"CTA is committed to taking the lead in improving these schools and will be developing a plan to help them," he added.
"We would rather spend our time doing real things to improve education instead of fighting vouchers," said CTA Vice President Barbara E. Kerr. "We want to work to make our schools better."
"We have to continue the coalitions that we built in this campaign," said Secretary-Treasurer David A. Sanchez. "We have learned the importance of reaching out to ethnic minority communities - and how pivotal it is in any election."
The mandate from the voters is clear, added Johnson. "We must ensure that teachers and students have all the resources they need to close the achievement gap between poor inner-city and rural schools and those in the suburbs.
"And we must make sure education bureaucrats make good on their promise to provide a quality education for every child."
Sherry Posnick-Goodwin
