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California Right to High-Quality Public School Education Initiative (2022)
| California Right to High-Quality Public School Education Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Education | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The California Right to High-Quality Public School Education Initiative (#21-0033) was not on the ballot in California as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.
The ballot measure would have created a state constitutional right to "a high-quality education that provides [public-school students] with the skills necessary to fully participate in the economy, our democracy, and our society."[1]
Text of the measure
Ballot title
The ballot title would have been as follows:[2]
| “ |
Authorizes Additional Lawsuits Challenging Public Education Policies and Actions by Creating New Constitutional Right. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.[3] |
” |
Petition summary
The summary provided for inclusion on signature petition sheets was as follows:[2]
| “ |
Creates new constitutional right for all public school students in preschool through high school, including charter schools, to a “high-quality” education, the requirements of which will be defined by the courts. Allows lawsuits only by parents and certain nonprofit organizations representing students to enjoin or invalidate any law, regulation, policy, or action that allegedly violates this new right. Policies that do not “put the interests of students first,” which is not defined, are deemed to violate the new right.[3] |
” |
Fiscal impact
The fiscal impact statement was as follows:[2]
| “ |
Unknown litigation and court-related costs for the state and schools that would depend significantly on the number of lawsuits filed on behalf of public school students.[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 constitutional amendment is equal to 8 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 constitutional amendments certified for the 2022 ballot:
- Signatures: 997,139 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 #21-0033
Emelyn Rodriguez filed the ballot initiative on October 7, 2021.[2] The Attorney General of California issued ballot language for the initiative on December 14, 2021, allowing a signature drive to begin. Signatures were due on June 13, 2022.
On June 28, the secretary of state reported the initiative failed to qualify for the ballot.[2]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ California Attorney General, "Initiative 21-0033," October 7, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 California Secretary of State, "Initiatives and Referenda Cleared for Circulation," accessed December 10, 2021 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "sos" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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