Education. Vouchers.

EDUCATION. VOUCHERS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. • Amends California Constitution to enable parents to choose a child\u27s school by requiring State to provide a voucher for every school-age child equal to at least 50 percent of prior fiscal year per pupil spending for K-12 public schools. • Requires Legislature to establish procedures whereby public schools may become independent voucher-redeeming schools. Vouchers may be redeemed by such schools and by qualifying private schools. • Authorizes required academic testing. • Limits new regulation of private and voucher-redeeming schools. • Voucher expenditures and specified savings count toward education\u27s existing constitutional minimum funding guarantee. Summary of Legislative Analyst\u27s Estimate of Net State and Local Government Fiscal Impact: • Long-term (by the fifth year) net fiscal effect on state funding of K-12 schools is largely unknown. Annual impact likely to range from costs of about $800 million to savings of about $1 billion, depending on the number of pupils who shift from public schools to schools that accept vouchers and legislative decisions on funding of public schools, • Short-term (first few years) state costs averaging hundreds of millions of dollars annually. • Debt service savings to the state and school districts potentially in excess of $100 million annually after 10-20 years, resulting from reduced need for construction of public schools