Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1291735
Our students have paid more than their fair share. Before 1978, California was at the top of the nation in education funding. Our schools were world-class models of a society that valued education. People came from all over for the California Dream. We had had free universities and community colleges. There were librarians and nurses in every school, and we had reasonable class sizes. For more than four decades, massive corporations and the super-wealthy have avoided paying their fair share in property taxes at the expense of California students and families, who have suffered from the chronic underfunding of public education and community services. But voters can reclaim $12 billion a year for our public schools, colleges and community services with Proposition 15, the Schools and Communities First initiative. But today, the reality is much different. At my daughter's high school in Los Angeles, there are 2,400 students and one counselor, restrooms that close for months, and a lack of desks that causes students to run to class in the hope it's not the day they're left without. While it plays out differently across California, no students are getting what they deserve. As the richest state in the nation and the fifth-largest economy in world, we still rank 39th in per-pupil funding and lag the top five states by more than $10,000 per student. And now, with the state facing unprec- edented shortfalls from the COVID pandemic, it could get even worse. But we have the opportunity to turn things We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For! Time to Put Schools & Communities First INITIATIVE WILL GENERATE $12 BILLION FOR SERVICES CALIFORNIA FAMILIES NEED YES on PROP 15 '' I am voting Yes on Prop. 15 because our students deserve education without limitations. Smaller class, innovation and teacher training takes funding. We need to prepare ALL students for the future." REBECA ARA Anaheim Elementary Education Association Prop. 15 closes commercial property tax loopholes benefiting a fraction of corporations and wealthy investors, without affecting homeowners or renters, to fund world-class schools and strength- en local economies so all Californians have an opportunity to thrive. With the COVID-19 pandemic causing a massive economic crisis, local governments and school districts face budget shortfalls of historic proportions, which will mean devastating cuts to essential workers, local services and schools. "Now more than ever, these essential workers, critical local services and schools on the front lines deserve our support," says CTA President E. Toby Boyd. "Prop. 15 does just that." Prop. 15 will require commercial and industrial landowners who have been taking advantage of tax protections intended for residential homeowners to pay their fair share. When billion-dol- lar corporations like Chevron and