Well, " is really the correct way to do this. But, there are a few
other options:
First, you only need the text and value attributes of a ListItem when you
enter their values in the Properties Window of VS while in source code view,
but even then you can use single quotes for the property boudaries, as in:
<asp

ropDownList ID="DropDownList1" runat="server">
<asp:ListItem Text='3"' Value='3"'>2"</asp:ListItem>
</asp

ropDownList>
This allows you to use the double quotes in the property value, without them
screwing up the reading of the markup.
But, you don't even have to write the code that way to achieve the same
result. If you were to use the SmartTask option in the Designer, and edit
the listitems that way, you'll see the code gets written like this:
<asp

ropDownList ID="DropDownList1" runat="server">
<asp:ListItem>2"</asp:ListItem>
</asp

ropDownList>
But, because the text/value isn't being stored in a property, per se, you
can replace the " with ", as in:
<asp

ropDownList ID="DropDownList1" runat="server">
<asp:ListItem>2"</asp:ListItem>
</asp

ropDownList>
-Scott