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California Education Savings Accounts Initiative (2022)
| California Education Savings Accounts Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Charter schools and vouchers | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The California Education Savings Accounts Initiative (#21-0006) was not on the ballot in California as an initiated state statute on November 8, 2022.
The ballot measure would have created an education savings account program to distribute $14,000 in education funds to students' parents for the students to attend private or charter schools or for homeschooling funds.[1]
Text of the measure
Ballot title
The ballot title would have been as follows:[2]
| “ |
Requires State Funding of Religious and Other Private School Education. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.[3] |
” |
Petition summary
The summary provided for inclusion on signature petition sheets was as follows:[2]
| “ |
Requires state to provide yearly voucher payments ($14,000 initially, adjusted annually) into Education Savings Accounts for K-12 students attending religious and other private schools. Funds payments through General Fund and local property tax revenues currently allocated to public (including charter) schools. Eliminates constitutional prohibition on public funding of religious and other private schools. Prevents state from requiring these schools to meet certain requirements (concerning teacher credentialing, curriculum, or disciplinary policies) as condition of funding. Any excess funds in Education Savings Accounts could be used at eligible higher education/vocational schools.[3] |
” |
Fiscal impact
The fiscal impact statement would have been as follows:[2]
| “ |
Increased annual state costs, probably in the range of $4.7 billion to $7 billion, to provide state funding for students currently enrolled in private school or homeschool. Depending on how the state implements the measure, these costs could be paid with reductions to funding for public schools and/or reductions to other programs in the state budget. Increased annual state costs, probably at least several billion dollars, to the extent students move from public to private schools. Lower spending on public schools roughly would offset these costs. Likely reduced state costs for school bonds, potentially reaching a couple hundred million dollars annually within the next few decades.[3] |
” |
Full text
The full text is available here.
Path to the ballot
Process in California
In California, the number of signatures required for an initiated state statute is equal to 5 percent of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. Petitions are allowed to circulate for 180 days from the date the attorney general prepares the petition language. Signatures need to be certified at least 131 days before the general election. As the verification process can take multiple months, the secretary of state provides suggested deadlines for ballot initiatives.
The requirements to get initiated state statutes certified for the 2022 ballot:
- Signatures: 623,212 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline for signature verification was 131 days before the general election, which was around June 30, 2022. However, the process of verifying signatures can take multiple months and proponents are recommended to file signatures at least two months before the verification deadline.
Signatures are first filed with local election officials, who determine the total number of signatures submitted. If the total number is equal to at least 100 percent of the required signatures, then local election officials perform a random check of signatures submitted in their counties. If the random sample estimates that more than 110 percent of the required number of signatures are valid, the initiative is eligible for the ballot. If the random sample estimates that between 95 and 110 percent of the required number of signatures are valid, a full check of signatures is done to determine the total number of valid signatures. If less than 95 percent are estimated to be valid, the initiative does not make the ballot.
Initiative #20-0006
Michael Alexander, Dale R. Broome, Brian Hawkins, and Stephen Smith filed the ballot initiative on August 6, 2021.[4] The Attorney General of California issued ballot language for the initiative on October 12, 2021, allowing a signature drive to begin. Signatures were due on April 11, 2022. The campaign reported collecting 200,000 signatures, which was less than the required amount.[5]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ California Attorney General, "Initiative 21-0006," August 6, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 California Secretary of State, "Initiatives and Referenda Cleared for Circulation," accessed May 11, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ California Attorney General, "Initiatives," accessed August 8, 2021
- ↑ Desert Sun, "School choice backers fail to put measure on California's November ballot," April 10, 2022
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