R-9582
f:\atty\mu n i\laws\prop38. wpd
City Council Meeting 9-26-00
Santa Monica, California
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RESOLUTION NUMBER 9582 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DECLARING ITS
OPPOSITION TO PROPOSITION 38, THE STATEWIDE
SCHOOL VOUCHER INITIATIVE
WHEREAS, Proposition 38 will appear on the November 7,2000, general election
ballot; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 38 would use public funds to provide $4,000 vouchers for
students to attend private and religious schools; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 38 would give $4,000 vouchers for students already in
private and religious schools, reducing the amount of money available for local public
schools; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 38 will hurt neighborhood public schools because every
student who leaves a public school for a subsidized voucher school means a loss of critical
funds for that neighborhood public school which means fewer textbooks, computers and
supplies; and
WHEREAS, voucher schools will be essentially unregulated because voucher
school operators are not required to have training, credentials or experience in educating
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children and voucher school teachers are not required to have a teaching credential or a
college degree; and
WHEREAS, voucher schools are not accountable to taxpayers, although they would
receive taxpayer money, are not required to make decisions at meetings open to the
public, and are not required to have their finances audited; and
WHEREAS, voucher schools are exempt from the state's rigorous accountability
system and students are not required to meet educational standards to move to the next
grade or to pass an exit exam to graduate from high school; and
WHEREAS, voucher schools, not parents, will decide if a child can attend their
schools, and Proposition 38 does not prohibit discrimination based on gender, religion,
family ability to pay, English-language proficiency, or academic or physical ability; and
WHEREAS, providing $4,000 vouchers for the 700,000 current private school
students will require nearly $3 billion, and Proposition 38 provides no funding for this
purpose; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 38 will require increases in county and state bureaucracies
to monitor a separate voucher account for each voucher school student, potentially costing
millions per year in addition to the voucher subsidies; and
WHEREAS, paying for Proposition 38 will result in higher taxes or cuts in vital
services,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES RESOLVE AND PROCLAIM AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council of the City of Santa Monica hereby opposes
Proposition 38, the statewide school voucher initiative.
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SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and
thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
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Adopted and approved this 3rd of October, 2000.
I, Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby
certify that the foregoing Resolution No. 9582 (CCS) was duly adopted at a
meeting of the Santa Monica City Council held on the 3rd of October, 2000, by
the following vote:
Ayes: Council members:
McKeown, Feinstein, Bloom, Mayor Pro
Tern O'Connor, Mayor Genser
Noes: Council members:
None
Abstain: Council members:
None
Absent: Council members:
Holbrook, Rosenstein
ATTEST:
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Maria M. Stewart