Voters defeat school vouchers proposal

DETROIT (AP) - A ballot proposal requiring poorly performing school districts to offer vouchers for students to use at private and parochial schools was defeated overwhelmingly yesterday after one of the most expensive political campaigns in state history.

Exit polling showed the measure failed despite millions of dollars' worth of campaign ads and the support of a coalition of Catholic churches and blacks concerned about the education their children are getting in inner-city schools.

The exit poll - based on inter-views with voters as they left precincts - was conducted by Voter News Service, a partnership of The Associated Press and the ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC television networks.

Proposal 00-1 supporters told voters the measure would save poor children in failing school districts, while opponents said it would harm public education throughout the state.

Supporters included conservative Republicans led by Alticor Inc. (formerly Amway Corp.) President Dick DeVos and his wife Betsy, former head of the state Republican Party.

Voucher opponents included GOP Gov. John Engler, Republican U.S. Sen. Spence Abraham and a coalition of teachers unions, school administrators and Democrats including former Gov. James Blanchard.

The proposal would have required school districts whose four-year graduation rate was lower than two-thirds in 1998-99 to give students attending them a chance to move to private or parochial schools with vouchers worth $3,300 - half the per-pupil grant to public schools.

Ads paid for by voucher supporters did not resonate with voters, said Laura Wotruba, spokeswoman for the group opposing vouchers, ALL Kids First!

"Their ads did not focus on the very heart of their proposal," she said. "They tried to make it into a teacher testing proposal, and it wasn't about that. It was about school vouchers."

Wotruba said she hopes the issue is finished in the state.

"People realize that this is not for kids in Michigan. It takes money away from our local public schools. It's another loud and clear message to people who back school vouchers that people do not want that."

Greg McNeilly, spokesman for Kids First! Yes! - the group backing the proposal - said the voucher issue would not go away, and hoped its proponents would work in the future to line up bipartisan support.

"We think in the future we will have stronger party leadership from both sides of the aisle," he told Detroit radio station WWJ.

Proposal 1:

No 1,588,883

Yes 736,577

Proposal 2:

No 1,290,602

Yes 600,868

As of 2 a.m.