"We’ve definitely been concentrating on getting organized and strategizing in anticipation of this moment," said Georgene Campbell, chairperson of ALL Kids First! "We’re ready for the upcoming battle. Our top priority is to make sure every child in Michigan has access to a great school."

ALL Kids First! is a coalition of more than 90 education, child advocacy, religious and civil rights organizations brought together to oppose the school voucher plan currently being touted by Kids First!Yes! The voucher proposal would allow taxpayer dollars to be used toward tuition costs at private and religious schools. Kids First!Yes! today delivered to the Secretary of State the signatures they say total the number necessary to get their voucher proposal on the November 2000 ballot.

Michael Emlaw, vice-chair of ALL Kids First!, said the organizations opposing school vouchers have been prepared for Kids First!Yes! to file their petition, it’s just been a matter of playing the waiting game.

"They’ve said for weeks that they had the signatures, we knew they were going to file, the next step is waiting for the Secretary of State to verify the signatures on the petition," Emlaw said. "Once that happens, this campaign is going to heat up by about a thousand degrees."

While pro-voucher Kids First!Yes! was paying petition circulators to gather signatures, ALL Kids First! has been quietly organizing a huge grassroots movement to oppose vouchers.

"We don’t have the financing that Kids First!Yes! has, but we have people who care about children and care about the educational opportunities available to every single child in this state," said Heaster Wheeler of the NAACP, a member of the ALL Kids First Executive Committee. "Vouchers will be a one-way ticket to nowhere for parents and children in metro-Detroit and throughout the state. All kids deserve great neighborhood schools."

"Changing the Constitution not only opens the door to vouchers, but it allows for tuition tax credits," said Wendy Wagenheim of the ACLU, also a member of the ALL Kids First Executive Committee. "Vouchers and tuition tax credits would drain funding from our neighborhood schools and pull the plug on public education--the cornerstone of our democracy."

Campbell said ALL Kids First! will now concentrate on unveiling the truth behind the voucher movement in a statewide information campaign.

"There is no proof that vouchers lead to better schools," Campbell said. "If there’s a problem in a school, then we need to come together as a community of parents, students, teachers and neighbors to fix it. The false promise of a voucher doesn’t do a thing to make sure all Michigan children, regardless of race, religion, gender or learning ability, receive a quality education."