Universal Preschool Goes Down in CA

Congratulations to California voters for keeping their preschools from becoming, well, like the rest of their schools.

Despite being the brainchild of famous director Rob Reiner, and having the support of many other Hollywood types, yesterday roughly 60 percent of California voters turned down Proposition 82, which would have provided “universal” (read: “government”) preschool for all state 4-year-olds.

In the past, such a touchy-feely proposal probably would have flown through the polls. But California voters might be wising up to the fact that “warm and fuzzy” doesn’t necessarily mean “good.” From the San Jose Mercury News:

Many San Jose area voters took their skepticism about the measure to the polls.

“Prop. 82 sounded really good, but the more I looked at it, the more I realized it was subject to shenanigans,” said David Yomtov, a San Jose resident who said he voted against it.

To read all about the political shenanigans and wheeling-and-dealing behind Proposition 82, check out the work of Lisa Snell at the Reason Public Policy Institute, who started fighting the good fight against Reiner’s initiative almost the moment it was introduced.