MICH. PAC GAVE CASH TO 24 VA. POLITICIANS
Richmond Times-Dispatch - [11/28/2003]

"A Michigan-based group that advocates vouchers and tuition tax credits is establishing itself as an emerging force in Virginia to promote school choice and education reform.

All Children Matter, a political-action committee formed last spring, spent at least $300,000 in contributions and independent expenditures such as mailings on nearly two dozen legislative campaigns this fall.

All of the recipient candidates were Republicans except for state Sen. Benjamin J. Lambert III, D-Richmond.

The committee, whose national chairman is former Amway Corp. president and voucher champion Richard DeVos, pumped more than $117,000 in direct gifts to 24 House of Delegates and Senate candidates. Of the candidates it endorsed, all but four won.

DeVos, a former member of the Michigan State Board of Education, spearheaded a voucher initiative in that state three years ago that nearly 70 percent of voters rejected.

All Children Matter ranked as the leading giver of single-interest groups as of the latest campaign report of Oct. 22, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks money in state politics.

Richard L. Sharp, chairman at auto retailer CarMax Inc., is the chairman of All Children Matter-Virginia State PAC.

Virginia was one of two states where the national PAC, with headquarters in Grand Rapids, Mich., launched political-action committees this year. The other was Louisiana, where the committee sup- ported unsuccessful GOP gubernatorial candidate Bobby Jindal.

"We felt we should try to be engaged in the election this year with the hope of solidifying some of the support we already have in the General Assembly, as well as trying to add to the ranks," said Greg Brock, the executive director of the national committee.

"We're looking very closely at getting involved again in 2005."

In that year, Virginia will elect a new governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and all 100 members of the House of Delegates.

"If we have an ally or supporter elected to the governor's office, that would certainly be very helpful to our cause as well," Brock said.

About half the money spent in Virginia came from within the state, Brock said, while the rest was raised across the country, including a contribution from DeVos.

"School choice" is a politically charged issue.

Typically under a voucher program, states provide a payment or a tax credit to parents who send their children to private schools. Legal experts question whether the Virginia constitution allows vouchers.

In 2001, the House killed a bill that would have awarded $500 tax credits to those who donate money to specially formed charitable groups to award scholarships to private school students.

Supporters of school choice contend it's about giving parents - particularly low-income families - more options for educating their children by giving them the ability to attend private schools they might not be able to afford. It also injects "a certain level of competition" into the education system, Brock said.

"We're looking at it from a justice standpoint," Brock said. "Those parents also deserve to have access to the best possible education. The wealthy already have school choice."

Opponents, including the Virginia Education Association, counter that such programs siphon much-needed money away from public schools, especially when the state is facing a deficit of $1.2 billion in the next two years.

"As long as money is as tight as it is in the budget, there's going to be very little traction for any sort of plan that diverts public money to private schools," said Rob Jones, the VEA's chief lobbyist. "We don't have public money to help public schools, much less a private entitlement."

Del. James H. Dillard II, a Fairfax Republican who chairs the House Education Committee, said Virginia already offers many choices for students, such as governor's and charter schools.

"The whole purpose of this thing is to make sure that wealthy kids can go to private or parochial schools," said Dillard, a retired public school teacher. "As long as I'm in the assembly, I'll do everything I can to move away from any kind of voucher or tax credit program, which in my opinion is a sham."

In light of the budget crisis, Dillard said, "obviously nothing like that is going to happen now."

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