What is Enacted by Initiative, and Why?
File this under "I've got think about this some more."

Recently someone pointed out to me that initiative and referrenda are some of the most powerful tools for keeping government in check. Think, for example, of Proposition 13 (California) and the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (Colorado).

And yet when it comes to school choice, every advance that I know of, whether it's Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minnesota, Iowa, Florida, or Utah, has come through the legislative process. When put up to a public vote, the pro-choice cause doesn't have a great record.

Why is that? One could argue that the pro-school argument is outspent by teachers unions and other sympathizers of the status quo, and that's certainly true. One could also argue that school choice is not that popular. There's some validity to that point, though it's important to overstate it. (I could look up public opinion surveys, but won't).

Perhaps the difference between the fates of the two causes is that one is easy to understand, and the other is not. Tax cuts, easy to understand. Restraints on government that will mean a reduction in the rate of spending growth? A bit more abstract, but still, it's about money in the bank.

Attaching a metaphorical backpack of money to a child and letting government funding flow to whatever school the child's family chooses? A bit more abstract--and certainly nothing that we have yet to see on a wide scale.

Labels: School choice

(permalink)