I've already written a couple of posts (here and here) to introduce readers to the efforts of a group of well heeled Libertarians and their astroturfy support system to use the ballot process to pass spending limits (aka Taxpayers Bills of Rights, aka TABORs) in about a dozen states. These limits would, in time, seriously undercut the provision of public services.

Others in the blogosphere have also written about the people behind TABOR. For some of this discussion, see here, here and especially here. I'm as interested in the history of the Libertarian Party as the next blogger, and am astounded at the array of organizations that are connected back to Howard Rich and his cronies at Americans for Limited Government (ALG). But I want to blog about the nexus of TABOR and vouchers, because a lot of the stars of the TABOR firmament have important voucher connections.  I've already written about Rich’s role in pushing vouchers in South Carolina. There are two voucher specific groups: Legislative Education Action Drive  (LEAD) and Parents in Charge that are affiliated with ALG.   

Another member of Rich’s network is Eric O'Keefe. He's on the board of ALG and was part of the Libertarian Party's structure with Rich. He is the honcho of LEAD.  I'm told that he played a leading role at ALG’s recent "action conference" on TABOR. And if this article is correct, O'Keefe is the president of All Children Matter.  All Children Matter is the voucher movement's main political funding commitee. They have spent millions of dollars, mostly in efforts to defeat anti voucher Republicans in GOP primaries.

Most important, these aren’t the only taboristas with ties to the voucher movement. Right wing state think tanks like the Mackinac Institute that are part of the State Policy Network advocate for both TABOR (called Stop Over Spending in MI) and tuition tax credits. The Club for Growth, on whose board both Howard Rich and Milwaukee voucher touter George Mitchell sit, is another TABOR advocate.  In Ohio, voucher mogul turned charter school mogul David Brennan was one of the lead sponsors of that state's TABOR initiative.  And according to campaign filings, the Missouri TABOR campaign got its legal advice from Clint Bolick's Institute for Justice.  

Why does this matter?  When the primary political muscle behind the movement to change the delivery of public education is dedicated to disinvesting public education it is going to have a major effect both on the political choices the movement makes and on the specific policy prescriptions around which they coalesce.  The effect this influence has had on the voucher movement is obvious.  Its largely become a means to a TABORish end. Less obvious – but I suspect quite real - are the constraints that this dynamic puts on the charter school movement -- which, needless to say, is far more progressive than the voucher movement.  And it explains why suburban school superintendents and anyone with a job in a service that could be privatized on the cheap reached for their wallets when the 100 Percent Solution was rolled out because it, like charter schools, includes a subset of good concepts and a whole lot of looseness as to what the finished policy will be.