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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

School Initiatives And Their Backer Trail In State Poll Survey Finds Voters Oppose Vouchers And Charter Schools

A multimillionaire who has spent $380,000 of his own money trying to snag the state’s top education post hasn’t convinced voters he’s right for the job.

Neither has Ron Taber sold voters on a school voucher initiative despite spending another $266,000 of his money to help get it on the November ballot.

Nearly half the voters polled in a new scientific survey oppose vouchers, which would let parents send children to private schools using tax money.

Almost as many say they oppose another proposal for major change in public education - independent charter schools run by parents, teachers or foundations with public money.

“Right now, it’s going to take one heck of a PR campaign for a ‘yes’ vote,” said Del Ali, an analyst for Political/Media Research.

The national polling firm conducted the survey of 806 likely voters between Thursday and Sunday for The Spokesman-Review and KHQ-TV.

“What they’re saying is they don’t see this as the answer to improving public education,” Ali said of the two school initiatives.

In the crowded race for state school superintendent, 17 percent of voters said they favor Terry Bergeson, former president of the state’s largest teachers union.

“I could do back flips,” Bergeson said when told she led the pack.

The next largest block, 10 percent, said they’d vote for Taber, a rancher and owner of low-income rental property.

Taber said he expects to face off with Bergeson in November’s general election but was surprised she has landed 7 percentage points ahead of him. “The difference between us is a little bit breathtaking,” he said.

But Taber appears a “stealth candidate” with a good chance of gaining final-hour support, Ali said.

One in two voters hasn’t made up his mind, so any candidate with big advertising money could rise to the top, he said.

“You’ve got an incredible amount of undecided. Whoever has money in the last weekend will pull this off,” predicted Ali. “It’s a dead heat, really.”

Raul de la Rosa, an administrator in the school superintendent’s office who ranked just 1 percent lower than Taber in the poll, was thrilled with the results.

“It has been a very hard uphill climb for me,” said the 56-year-old from Olympia.

“I don’t have a lot of money to spend on my own. I feel like David going against two Goliaths - Bergeson and Taber.”

Bergeson, an educator for 30 years, is backed by the Washington Education Association and the state principals association, while more than 80 percent of Taber’s campaign money is his own.

Only 6 percent of those surveyed said they’d vote for Chris Vance, a King County councilman who says he’s the outsider parents can trust.

Vance said he’s confident last-minute advertising will help him beat Taber in the Sept. 17 primary before going on to challenge Bergeson in November.

“Our radio advertising just started yesterday,” Vance said Tuesday.

On the school initiatives, only one-third of the voters say they’ll support I-177 on Nov. 5. The measure would allow charter schools. Forty-four percent of voters surveyed oppose charter schools, and about one voter in five has not yet decided how to vote.

Charter schools would have their own governing boards, receive public money and be regulated similar to private schools.

Charter school proponents blamed the lagging support on a lack of media attention and vowed to try harder to get their message out.

“Our biggest job is those undecideds,” said Fawn Spady, the initiative’s sponsor.

Critics of both charter and voucher initiatives said the poll accurately reflects public sentiment.

“They’re not ready to abandon the public school system, which is what both these initiatives (do),” said Michelle Ackermann, a spokeswoman for the “No on 173 and 177 Committee.”

Taber said he is concerned his voucher initiative may not pull off a recovery.

“We’ll sit down and have a strategy session,” he said. “Is this thing getting away from us or do we still have a chance?” The survey also revealed a gender gap in how men and women view the two initiatives. Men were about equally divided over the two proposals, but women overwhelmingly said they would vote no on both.

Initiative critics say that’s because women generally pay closer attention to their children’s education and know what works best.

Taber, however, attributed the gap to what he describes as women’s conservative nature.

“Men are more inclined to be adventuresome and try something new,” he said, “and women are just more conservative.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 graphics: 1. Sounding out Washington - Crowded field, tough decision 2. Sounding out Washington - Educational initiatives trailing