Schools have reached the breaking point throughout California. We’ve faced annual budget cuts since 2008.
In Castro Valley, we have fewer counselors supporting students at Creekside, Canyon, Redwood and CVHS. All sports funding has been cut. Elementary class and high school class sizes are the largest they’ve been in decades. School employees have less time to work with kids, because their hours have been cut as a cost-saving measure.
In 2009 alone, Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Democratic-controlled Legislature cut $9.3 billion dollars in education spending. These cuts hurt children, families and communities.
Proposition 30 – the Schools & Local Public Safety Protection Act – temporarily raises taxes on wealthy Californians and increases the sales tax by a quarter cent.
What’s good about Proposition 30?
- Raises revenue to address shortfalls, instead of cutting services for children
- 78.8% of new revenue comes from taxpayers with annual incomes over $532,000
- Prevents $6 billion in mid-year “trigger cuts”
What’s bad about Proposition 30?
- Won’t raise enough money to restore cuts from previous years
- Sales tax is a regressive tax that disproportionately impacts low-income families
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has written: “Economic theory and evidence gives a clear and unambiguous answer: It is economically preferable to raise taxes on those with high incomes than to cut state expenditures.”
Stiglitz has gone on to say: “Every dollar of state and local government spending enters the local economy right away, generating a greater economic impact [than tax cuts]. The impact is especially large when the money goes for salaries of teachers, policemen and firemen, doctors and nurses and others that provide vital services to our communities.”
Proposition 30 is the right measure on the ballot to protect vital services like public education and it’s the right course of action to take during a recession. It keeps our heads above water while parents, teachers and community figure out the next steps to fully fund public education in California.
(Like many teachers in California, I am abstaining from Proposition 38, another school funding measure. I appreciate the hard work of the Parent Teacher Association to put this measure on the ballot. Raising the income tax by 20% across the board is a bitter pill to swallow though and Proposition 38 won’t support community colleges or public universities which is unfortunate.)
I am quite certain that both measures will fail if we split the vote. So if you support prop 30 you should also vote YES on prop 38. The prop that gets the most votes wins, which will likely be 30. Please don't jeopardize school funding by only voting yes on 30.
Robert J Birgeneau and Provost forget they are public servants, stewards of the public money, not overseers of their own fiefdom. Let’s review how they used tax funding: Pay ex-politician $300,000 for several lectures; Recruit affluent foreign & affluent out of state students who displace qualified instate applicants; Spend millions (prominent East Coast university accomplishing same at 0 cost) for OE consultants to remove Chancellor, Provost created inefficiencies but prevent OE from examining Cal. senior management. Email marsha.kelman@ucop.edu Calif. State Senators, Assembly Members (The author has 35 years’ management consulting, taught at Cal. where he observed the culture & ways of senior management & yes was not fired).
Decisions you make on Nov 6 determine California’s course for years. We are kidding ourselves by believing that education funding shortfalls disappear with Prop 30, Prop 38. Prop 30, Prop 38 levy significant taxes on each one of us. The wounds that Prop 30, 38 are to heal have been self inflicted largely by our elected Sacramento politicians who simply do not say no to any influential interest group be they, University of California (29% increase in salaries last 6 years), public employees, business, teachers, or other unions or lobbyists. And now Prop 30, 38 are used by Sacramento politicians and lobbyists to blackmail us
Prop 30, 38 are not the solution to California's education problems but they do throw more money at the problems. Doing the same thing over and over again and adding mor $ is senseless.
No on 30, 38.
Why didn't you do what was necessary to make your solution an official ballot Prop?
Proposition 30 and 38 are not solutions, they are bandages to deeper problems, but without this bandage our students suffer now. I cannot go back and change what politicians have done in the past, I just know that punishing our children with more cuts and more destruction to our public education system is not the right answer.
In otherwords no on Prop 38, 30, and 32 In otherwords No on 30, 38, and 32
Have innovative, thoughtful, insightful, creative teachers faculty discover ways of increasing learning with significantly reduced resources $. No on 30, 38 and 32
Einstein’s view of Prop. 30 Prop. 38 – “Spending more money doing what has been done in the past and hoping for a better outcome is insanity”.
As for Prop. 32. I do not understand why it is OK for corporations to have unlimited power, but unions, organized workers, must be silenced. What's the fear? The increases in achievement that I noted in a previous post were the result of Castro Valley's investing in science labs for each elementary school. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve this community, and I ask every citizen to continue to support our children and schools.