PROPOSITION 8

California Statewide Election, 11/3/98


| Bulletins | Proposition Overview | Related Websites | Media Articles |


BULLETINS


PROPOSITION OVERVIEW

This measure makes various changes to the state's education system (grades kindergarten through twelve--K-12). Specifically, it:


RELATED WEBSITES


MEDIA ARTICLES

Educators Criticize State Drug Fight Plan
Contra Costa Times, 9/20/98

Some East Bay educators say Wilson's zero tolerance proposal (contained in proposition 8) would unfairly set punishment without considering circumstances.  At a time when more young people aren't getting high just on life, Gov. Pete Wilson's plan to expel most students caught with drugs sounds like a timely, get-tough approach to ridding schools of drugs.

Wilson Seeks to Put Teachers to the Test
Contra Costa Times, 9/13/98

As California feeds its need for 25,000 new teachers a year through the start of the next century, parents and policymakers are worried that the new educators aren't educated enough.  Gov. Pete Wilson has put the issue of teacher competency on the Nov. 3 ballot, along with a slew of other school issues that make up his education package called Proposition 8. Wilson's initiative would tighten standards by making all new teachers take subject exams before setting foot in California classrooms.

Wilson Blasts Teachers Union, Pushes Prop. 8
Sacramento Bee, 9/12/98

Blasting California's largest teachers union as a "stout, militant protector of egalitarian mediocrity," Gov. Pete Wilson on Friday urged the state's business leaders to fight for a Wilson-conceived ballot measure he says will improve public education.

Parental Guidance Suggested
Contra Costa Times, 9/8/98

Prop. 8 would give school-site councils with a 2-1 ratio of parents to faculty the power to decide curricula, budgets at schools.

Gov. Pete Wilson has figured out a way to get parents involved in their children's schools: Make it a law.

One of the five components of Proposition 8, the governor's education initiative, would give substantial decision-making responsibility to parent-led school-site councils at each of California's approximately 8,000 public schools. With a 2-1 ratio of parents to teachers, these councils would make curriculum and budgetary decisions for each school.

Few Know About November 3 Propositions
S.F. Chronicle, 9/2/98

Prop. 8, which would provide permanent funding for class-size reduction for school districts that set up parent-teacher councils, require testing for teacher credentialing and require that students be suspended for drug possession, was familiar to 57 percent. Some 29 percent said they were inclined to vote for the measure, and just 4 percent said they would vote no.

The Misbegotten Creature Called Proposition 8
Sacramento Bee, 8/19/98

Even the backers of Proposition 8, which will be on the November ballot, don't seem to be quite sure how to label it. In their literature, it's "The Accountability Act of 1998." The measure itself says, "It Permanent Class Size Reduction and Educational shall be known as the Permanent Class Size Reduction and Educational Opportunities Act of 1998."

But by whatever name, this initiative is a strange beast of many parts. Its backers, essentially Gov. Pete Wilson in various disguises, call themselves Californians for Smaller Classes, Drug-Free Schools and Educational Accountability, which should give some indication of how many tentacles this schoolhouse mooncalf has.

Wilson is Lampooned in Teachers' Union 'Boot Camp'
Los Angeles Times, 8/26/98

In surgeons' masks and gowns, the top four leaders of the 253,000-member California Teachers Assn. hover over a gurney. Then they prepare to operate on a sheet-draped, body-shaped lump labeled . . . "Gov. Pete Wilson's clone." "We'll have to give him a brain transplant," says one of the mock surgeons, "assuming he has one."

Another fight is shaping up this fall. The teachers association, and other education groups, oppose the Wilson-backed Proposition 8, which, among other things, would establish powerful, parent-dominated councils to oversee each school.

Press Releases -- No On Prop. 8 Coalition

Education Top Issue on Ballot
S.F. Examiner, 8/2/98

The most strident opposition to Proposition 8, Wilson's measure, will come from the California Teachers Association, which has opposed teacher competency tests in the past. Wilson has fought repeatedly with the teachers union.

Poll Shows Voters Back Wilson's Schools Plan
Contra Costa Times, 8/2/98

Seventy-one percent of the likely voters polled support the Wilson-supported Proposition 8 .. thirteen percent said they opposed the measure, and 16 percent were undecided.

Education Plan Debated
San Jose Mercury News, 7/30/98

Supporters and opponents of a ballot measure designed to permanently lock in money for class size reduction and create a special office to rate and rank California public schools appeared before the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group's Education Task Force on Wednesday, in a discussion aimed at whether the group should endorse the measure.

Class-Size Reduction Proposition Approved for November Ballot
Sacramento Bee, 6/24/98

California voters will have a chance in November to decide whether smaller class sizes in early grades of public schools should continue even if state revenues plummet in future years. A voter initiative proposed by Gov. Pete Wilson was certified Tuesday for the Nov. 3 general election ballot after elections officials determined that supporters turned in 488,176 voter signatures. Backers were required to submit at least 433,269 valid signatures.


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