Voters in states around the nation will decide a record number of initiatives designed to boost academic performance -- or restrict what can be taught in the classroom, the New York Times reports.

Ballot choices include whether to designate public funds for school voucher programs (California and Michigan), end bilingual education (Arizona), boost school budgets or at least specify minimum spending levels (California, Colorado and Michigan), link teacher pay to student performance (Oregon) and ban teaching anything about homosexuality (Oregon again).

There are a total 32 larger education initiatives on various state ballots this year. Of those, 11 initiatives were placed on ballots through petitions, well above the previous record of five such grassroots efforts in 1996, according to the nonprofit Initiative & Referendum Institute. The other education proposals were sent by state legislatures, generally for spending and school construction measures, the Times reports.

While it's true both major presidential candidates have discussed a number of education proposals, it may be individual states that move first on reforms, the newspaper reports.

"People aren't satisfied with either the course we're on in the schools or the pace of change," Robert Schwartz, president of the nonpartisan Achieve Inc. education policy group, told the Times. "They don't know quite what to do, so you see people flailing about with these various attempts to take education policy directly into their own hands."

California and Michigan both have school voucher programs on the slate. California's measure would allow public money to be spent for private school tuition and would include all the state's 6.5 million students within five years. The Michigan plan would only cover students in "low-performing" public schools.

Arizona's proposed bilingual education ban is similar to one that passed in California two years ago, and would launch one-year language programs for non-English speaking students.

In terms of school spending measures, Californians will decide on a proposal requiring per-student spending to be above the national average, while Michigan residents could approve a proposal requiring per-student spending to not drop below current levels. Colorado voters will decide whether to approve a measure requiring education budgets to increase each year by at least the inflation rate plus one percentage point over the next decade, the newspaper reports.

Also related to budgets, an Oregon measure would end seniority pay for teachers, instead moving to a merit-based system administered by state officials and local districts.

Voters in that state also will decide on a measure to bar discussions or other information about bisexuality and/or homosexuality if that information "encourages, promotes or sanctions such behavior," according to the language of the proposal.

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