News Update

Backers of two education initiatives cite omicron in ending ballot campaigns

The omicron variant has culled two proposed education initiatives from the herd of three dozen measures vying to make the November state election ballot.

Backers of a proposal to add the right to a “high-quality” education to the State Constitution and of a measure to establish voucher-like education savings accounts  have halted efforts to qualify them for the fall election. Both faced stiff headwinds of collecting signatures from voters wary of signing petitions face-to-face during a pandemic.

Even before the rise of the omicron variant, observers had predicted gathering enough signatures would cost upward of $10 million. And both initiatives would have faced costly campaigns to defeat them by the California Teachers Association.

Lance Christensen, chief strategist for Fix California Education’s education savings account measure, didn’t exactly blame omicron, however. “Gov. Newsom’s continued attacks on our freedoms and his talk of more lockdowns, emergency orders, social distancing and fear mongering has only increased the challenge of collecting 1.5 million signatures for a school choice initiative that competes with a similarly worded initiative,” he told the conservative media outlet California Globe.

Fix California Education’s decision to suspend operations and support a nearly identical rival initiative measure should strengthen Californians for School Choice. It began signature-gathering about the same time last fall and now has until April 11 to submit enough signatures. Its proposal would provide parents or caregivers $14,000 per year per child, which they could spend for a private, religious, charter or home school arrangement. They could put whatever is left over each year into a savings account for higher education. The chair of Californians for School Choice is Mike Alexander, who headed Pasadena Patriots, an arm of the Tea Party.

Silicon Valley entrepreneur David Welch and other promoters of the “high-quality” education amendment said they would try again in two years. “Due to the omicron surge, our coalition of parents, teachers and civil right organizations have made the decision to continue to grow across California and be on the November 2024 ballot,” the campaign said in a statement Monday.

California would join Florida, Illinois and Virginia as states whose constitutions have a “high-quality” clause. Welch said would it enable proponents to more easily challenge policies, regulations and laws, such as  strong workplace protections for teachers, that they contend interfere with a high-quality education. As currently worded, the initiative would prohibit judges from mandating spending or taxes as remedies.