Educators Buck Giving the Public Its Say on Taxes

By Drew Lindsay

It is an awkward position to take in the anti-government climate of this year's elections, but educators in several states are fighting proposals that would give voters the sole authority to raise taxes.

The increasingly popular notion that the public, not its elected representatives, should approve tax increases will be on the ballot next week in Missouri, Montana, and Oregon. School groups in those states fear such measures would dry up education funding, and they are actively campaigning against them.

But proponents hail these proposals as a new form of direct democracy and hope the public's sour attitude toward...