California is amidst one of the worst budget deficits that the state has ever seen. For years the public education system has been taking large budget cuts in order to keep the state afloat. Schools are firing teachers and cutting classes as the tuition rises. This year the state faces a potential $6 billion dollar cut to the K-12, Community College, University of California and California State University programs if Proposition 30 fails. Additionally, there will be cuts to Department of Developmental Services, City police department grants, CalFire, flood control programs, Local water safety patrol grants, Departments of Fish and Game and Parks and Recreation as well as DOJ law enforcement programs. This measure, Proposed by Governor Jerry Brown, would raise the state sales tax by .25% for four years and raise the income tax on couples making more than $500,000 a year for seven years. The extra revenue would go towards public education as well as public safety. If the proposition does not pass there would be “trigger” cuts on January 1st taking about $6 billion from the school budget. Another measure to potentially save the school budget cuts is proposition 38, which would raise income taxes for Californians making $7,000 or more a year from 2013 to 2024. This is a well-intentioned proposition, but it will lock taxpayers in for 12 years and raise money that is not all guaranteed to go to schools. The education system can’t afford to take anymore cuts. Proposition 30 needs to be passed in order to save the California Public Schools from more potentially devastating budget cuts.
As a student in the California Public School System for the past 16 years, I have a good sense of how important the schools are to the state and how much they have changed since the budget cuts in recent years. I have seen teachers cut and the classroom sizes grow in K-12 schools while classes and sessions are completely cut from Community Colleges. Students and families can’t afford to pay more when they already have a difficult time paying tuition that has been rising for years. If 30 fails, we take away many students’ chances to go to college and put people of lower socioeconomic status at a disadvantage.
If we don’t pass Prop. 30, we are allowing our youth to have opportunities stripped from them. Tuition will rise and classes will be cut, making it hard for many students to afford to go to college and therefore giving them less opportunity to be financially successful in our competitive economy. According to a study done by the US Census Bureau, “Over a work-life, individuals who have a bachelor’s degree would earn on average $2.1 million — about one- third more than workers who did not finish college, and nearly twice as much as workers with only a high school diploma. A master’s degree holder tops a bachelor’s degree holder at $2.5 million. Doctoral ($3.4 million) and professional degree holders ($4.4 million) do even better.” This is clear proof of the correlation between higher education and financial success. The potential trigger cuts would create an unequal opportunity for education across the state. We need to take responsibility for the education of our youth and fund the schools provided to them. California used to have one of the leading school systems in the nation and world, but now has fallen in many categories. The California School Board Association states that we now rank 49th in teacher to student ratio with and average of 20.9 students per 1 teacher. Public Education in California is in an emergency and needs immediate help.
Opponents of proposition 30 claim that this measure doesn’t guarantee that any of the extra revenue will go to our school systems. This is completely untrue because the official title and summary of proposition 30 prepared by the attorney general states that it, “[a]llocates temporary tax revenues 89% to K-12 school and 11% to community colleges”. The extra revenue will be put into an “Education Protection Account” that cannot be touched by the legislature. Opposition also argues that it is unfair to raise taxes on only the rich in order to fund the schools. The wealthiest people in the state can afford the tax increases that will help the entire state greatly. Our state cannot afford to raise income tax across among the poorest of our citizens, as Proposition 38 would do, and if neither proposition passes, our students will be paying more in tuition. This election, we can decide who we want to pay more: our students, the poor and middle class, or the richest people in our state. We can avoid cutting college classes and raising tuition throughout the California Higher Education System by temporarily raising taxes on the extremely wealthy.
The potential cuts to the K-12 system are equal to about $5.5 billion. If the K-12 system received these cuts they would have to take 3 weeks off of the regular school year. That would force the curriculum to be in taught in a shorter time, reducing the quality of the education because it would either have to be sped up or cut out. Taking this much money out of our basic education would have a huge negative affect on our young students.
Over the past 3 years, the enrollment at California Community Colleges has decreased by more than 485,000 students due to budget cuts. The cuts have also forced about 15% of the courses to be taken away which have turned away thousands of students. If 30 fails, the California Community College Chancellor’s office states that, “Community Colleges would be cut by another $338 million in the middle of the academic year, which translates into 180,000 fewer students. Colleges would be forced to slash course offerings even further, lay off more educators and borrow more.” If it passes they will, “receive $210 million in additional funds in 2012-13.” This extra funding would help to make room for an extra 20,000 students. Our Community Colleges desperately need this extra funding. I have seen classes cut and been forced to stay in school for extra time because there are no open spaces available for required classes. The California State University system has received cuts of $750 million in the past 4 years and faces another $250 million if Prop 30 doesn’t pass. According to Carla Rivera of the Los Angeles Times, CSU students will face a 5% tuition increase if the measure fails and a 9% tuition refund if it passes. All we need to do is temporarily raise income and sales tax and we can save our K-12 and higher education.
Proposition 30 is written to save the current status of the California public education system. If it is not passed our schools will face a $6 billion cut from K-12 and the higher education system. As citizens of the state we need to save the already underfunded schools. We have the power to keep the schools open for the full school year and avoid costly tuition hikes and cut classes. The alternatives include passing proposition 38 which raises income taxes on some of the poorest people in California, or allowing massive trigger cuts which would be detrimental to the education system. Help save our education by passing Proposition 30 in November.
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