I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis. Cleveland, Milwaukee and Florida, move over. If California voters do the right thing this November, the school voucher landscape will be altered forever.
School book manufacturers often say that as California and Texas go, so goes the nation, because those states buy so many books that what they order the rest of the country winds up buying too. But this fall, California could have a different kind of impact altogether.
If passed, Proposition 38 would provide tax-funded vouchers worth at least $4,000 to each of the state's 6.6 million school children. They could use them at the school of their choice, including private and religious schools. That's compared to 14,000 students currently nationwide.
Of course, California students could stay in public schools, too. Competition would force the schools to improve, which is why the voucher movement came about in the first place: the low math and reading scores statewide.
Educrats and teachers' unions are, of course, opposed.
Stay tuned.
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont, and I'll see you next time.