Shoppers at WalMart outlets throughout California were asked to sign petitions that were later delivered to the Governor's office. In addition to the consumers' veto request, all 30 Republicans who voted against AB 84 in the Assembly signed a letter requesting that Governor Davis veto AB 84. The major winners here are capitalism and California's consumers. According to a recently released report by researchers with the Policy Analysis for California Education group, one in four students nationwide is now attending a public or private school outside his or her neighborhood. While school choice is becoming more popular, hard research on the effectiveness of increased school choice has been scant.
Polls indicate strong public support for some school choice programs.
President Clinton has spoken in support of charter schools, and presidential candidate Texas Governor George W. Bush recently proposed a voucher program using federal money to help low-income students who attend failing schools. Of the five, voucher programs currently make up the smallest share of school choice programs. According to the PACE report, between 1993 and 1999, the number of students participating in choice programs increased from 9.7 million to 13.6 million, including students who attend private schools. But the report's authors are loathe to support vouchers because, they reason, the payments often do not cover the full cost of private or parochial education. They maintain that this may preclude poor families from participating.