Most school measures OK’d in November elections

Board members also do well; Utah rejects vouchers

Public school supporters who backed 12 of 17 school bond and parcel tax measures on local California ballots this Nov. 6 had something to celebrate after the final votes were tallied. All but five of the school measures received either the two-thirds vote needed to pass or the 55 percent supermajority required for general obligation bonds that meet Proposition 39 accountability requirements.

Parcel tax measures, which all require a two-thirds vote to pass, were far more successful than bond measures. Of the six parcel tax measures on the ballot, the five in the Lafayette, Las Virgenes Unified, Reed Union, Mammoth Unified and Davis Joint Unified school districts all passed; Sonoma Valley Unified School District’s $91, six-year Measure E proposal received a respectable 57 percent of the vote but still fell about 10 percentage points shy of the two-thirds majority needed.

By contrast, barely half of bond measures were successful; seven passed and four failed. Voters approved bond measures to finance projects in Walnut Valley Unified—which had two successful proposals—Lenox, Alvord Unified, Burlingame Elementary, Hart-Ransom Union and Denair Unified school districts.

Bond measures for Muroc Joint and Wasco Unified school districts, both in Kern County, received 53.9 percent and 60.6 percent of the votes cast, but neither received the supermajorities they required. The largest bond measure in the state, a $240 million proposal for Antelope Valley JUSD, fell five points short of the 55 percent threshold needed to pass.

Local board races, Utah voucher vote

California voters also filled 476 school district and county board seats. By and large, voters seemed to feel that incumbents were doing a good job, re-electing 310 board members; 58 incumbents either did not seek re-election or failed to retain their seats. One hundred eighty-two new school board members were elected to seats on district or county boards.

One of the races with the most significant implications for public education took place outside the state in Utah, where 62 percent of the voters in this traditionally conservative state rejected a sweeping measure to give all parents vouchers to use toward public or private school fees. Political analysts said Utah was a test case for voucher proponents.

Steve Peterson, associate director of the Utah School Boards Association, said public school supporters have been fighting to defeat vouchers in his state for 10 years, and this latest victory was especially gratifying.

“It has been a massive and grueling battle,” Peterson said. “Utah is now the 11th consecutive state to defeat vouchers through the referendum process.”

California voters have rejected a number of voucher measures. The most recent proposal was defeated in 2000.

Related link:

 Review results of all the local education parcel tax and bond issue ballot items.