Although school vouchers have so far received very little recent attention, I believe they may soon become one of the central political issues of the November election in California, and perhaps nationally as well.
The campaigns for and against a sweeping voucher initiative put on the California ballot by Tim Draper, a wealthy Silicon Valley venture capitalist, may spend many tens of millions of dollars, and dominate the airwaves and the ground, with a huge teachers’ union get-out-the-vote effort. Another huge voucher initiative battle is shaping up in the key battleground state of Michigan, and the Florida courts will be ruling on the constitutionality of their voucher law.
All in all, the public will probably hear more about vouchers—pro and con—in the next five months than in the previous fifty. And it might well become an issue in the Presidential campaign.
I analyze all of this in the National Review column attached below.
- High Noon for Vouchers by Ron Unz
National Review (Online), Tuesday, June 20, 2000
