PROPOSITION 38.

School vouchers. This measure would authorize annual state payments of at least $4,000 per pupil for private and religious schools. It would permit replacement of current constitutional public school funding formula.

Fiscal impact: Near-term state costs from zero to $1.1 billion annually. Long-term impact from $2 billion in annual costs to $3 billion in annual savings, depending on how many public school students shift to private schools.

PRO: We can no longer stand by while bureaucrats prop up a crumbling education system that traps millions of California's children in failing schools.

California's educational system is riddled with waste and abuse, like the $200 million Belmont Learning Complex in Los Angeles - never to be occupied because it was built on toxic land.

Control over the education and destiny of California's children must be taken from bureaucrats and given to parents.

The chief opponents of Proposition 38 try to dismiss it as a ``reckless experiment.'' Rather, it is years of reckless experimenting in our public schools that has resulted in 62 percent of California's third-graders being unable to read at grade level.

Proposition 38 holds schools accountable to parents and taxpayers. It helps public schools, increases per pupil spending, gives parents a choice, provides healthy competition, and offers every kid a fair chance.

Government can help parents get involved in their child's education.

Government can increase school accountability by empowering parents with a $4,000 voucher, giving them the power to use their tax dollars to decide which school is best for their child.

According to an independent government agency, it is likely that Proposition 38 will save taxpayers $700 million a year as students in failing schools redeem vouchers and leave the public school system.

The critics are trying to scare the public with silly stories about witches opening private schools. California has subsidized private school tuition for years at schools like Stanford, the University of Southern California and St. Mary's.

It is time to take power out of the hands of politicians and hold schools directly accountable to parents and taxpayers. When it comes to our children and their future, reform can't wait.

CON: Let's fix our public schools, not abandon them. California's children need the best teachers, in small classrooms, teaching to high standards, in schools that are accountable. But Proposition 38 will not achieve any of these goals.

This proposition would devastate public schools. Under Proposition 38, $3 billion from taxpayers would subsidize tuition costs for the nearly 700,000 students already enrolled in private schools.

In comparison, class-size reduction costs half as much yet benefits almost three times as many children.

This $3 billion voucher tax is an unwise public policy. There is no reason to believe that working families will benefit, and there's no accountability for the quality of education delivered.

Proposition 38 allows voucher schools to discriminate on the basis of gender, religion, family income level, language, past academic performance and disabilities.

Unlike voucher programs in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Florida, Proposition 38 does not ensure that private schools will honor vouchers. Private schools already have long waiting lists.

Voucher schools are not required to have their finances audited and can make decisions on how to spend our tax dollars in secret behind closed doors.

Proposition 38 gives taxpayers' money to voucher schools that are not accountable to the taxpayers.

Money for vouchers will come from cuts in police, fire, health care and similar programs or from new taxes.

We cannot afford to take money from these programs, and we cannot afford to drain money from our public school system.

Proposition 38 is opposed by public and private educators because it will cut funding for public schools while raising tuition for children who already attend private and parochial schools.

This proposition will not provide better teachers, smaller classroom or higher standards. It is an expensive experiment our children can't afford.