CSBA Praises California Voters for Helping to Defeat Proposition 223.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 1998--The debate over Proposition 223 is over and the California School Boards Association praises the state's voters who took to the ballot box on June 2 to cast their "no" vote to this misleading initiative.

"The initiative's defeat sends a message to the proponents, that California taxpayers were not fooled by the initiative's catchy '95/5' formula," stated CSBA's president John D'Amelio (Escondido Union High School District) at a Bay Area press conference this morning. "School districts have long supported efficiency in education. Prop. 223, however, would have created an unnecessary set of state requirements of additional bureaucracy, paperwork and reporting requirements at the expense of California's children. Local decision making will be preserved."

Local education communities will be able to continue to direct resources in a manner that truly benefits students, maintains adequate school personnel and operates quality educational programs. "We in the school communities are relieved that this battle has been won for education," D'Amelio said, "Passage would have been a tragedy and a far cry from educational efficiency and our small school districts would have been hardest hit."

CSBA members, who represent nearly 1,000 local school districts and county offices of education, voted to oppose Prop. 223 last December at their Delegate Assembly because school districts recognized that the measure would have created a bureaucratic nightmare of new audit requirements and paperwork at a cost of as much as $22 million per year.

There was never any empirical data or research suggesting that the administrative limits imposed in this initiative would improve student achievement or result in educational efficiencies. In fact, the National Center for Educational Statistics observed that California was 49th out of 50 states in terms of the ratio of administrators to students, well below the national average. If school districts employed the number of administrators permitted by state law, there would be an additional 4,300 administrators in California's schools.

CSBA was joined by many other statewide associations in its opposition to Proposition 223 including the Association of California School Administrators, California State Employee Association, California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, Service Employees International Union, PTA and League of Women Voters.

CSBA is a nonprofit association representing nearly 1,000 K-12 school districts and county offices of education throughout California.

    CONTACT: California School Boards Association
              Mina Fasulo, 916/371-4691