(LANSING)--ALL Kids First! today announced that its membership of groups and organizations publicly opposing vouchers has hit and surpassed the century mark. ALL Kids First! is a coalition of education, child advocacy, religious and civil rights groups brought together to oppose the voucher proposal currently being supported by a group called Kids First! Yes!

"We are now 104 member organizations strong, and we continue to gain support," said Georgene Campbell, ALL Kids First! Chairperson. "We're proud to have this many groups as members of ALL Kids First! Our strength and success are in the people and organizations dedicated to making sure that all kids have access to great neighborhood schools."

The voucher proposal would amend the Michigan Constitution to allow taxpayer dollars to be used toward private and religious school tuition. While it to target school districts with a graduation rate of less than two-thirds, the proposal would also open the door to allowing vouchers in every school district, as well as enabling the Legislature to institute tuition tax credits and create other indirect means of using public funds for private schools.

Campbell said that she expects ALL Kids First! membership to continue growing as more and more people learn about the hidden dangers of the voucher proposal.

"The Governor just proposed cutting roughly $170 million from public school funding if the voucher proposal is approved in November. That's just to make sure the state can cover some of the immediate cost of vouchers for students who already attend private schools," Campbell said. "The truth behind the voucher scheme is that it is going to hurt our neighborhood schools and paralyze any positive changes we might make to give all kids access to a great education."

The current list of organizations and schools supporting ALL Kids First can be found on the ALL Kids First! web site at www.allkidsfirst.org.

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