Vote No on CA Prop 30:
Save Our Public Schools-
Do Not Hand Them Over To The Rich
Stop Racist Discrimination and Segregation
VOTE NO ON CA PROP 30!
Prop 30 furthers discrimination, unequal access and destroys public education - A blank check to the privatizers and a shameful abuse of power.
After reading this, you will hopefully be moved to demand a rescission of the legislature’s discriminatory budget trigger cuts and demand a call for a fiscal emergency session.
Supporters of Proposition 30 are desperate for your vote. So desperate that they will completely mislead us into thinking that somehow this initiative focuses on saving public education funding. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the following will demonstrate with language right out of the text of the proposal and right out of your voter guide.
If you wouldn’t give someone unrestricted access to your bank account, then you might want to vote no on Proposition 30 as it will give school board members, community college board trustees and county offices of education board members unrestricted access to our public education tax dollars. Many of these board members are not even elected by the people. Many of these board members are personally involved in an insidious agenda to privatize and capitalize on our public education system. Shame on them.
Would these board members hire only the most qualified educators? They wouldn’t have to with “unrestricted” access and sole discretion on how they can spend education tax dollars. Yes, proposition 30 also gives these board members “sole discretion” on how they spend our public education tax dollars.
Would these board members make sure that there is funding for low income students such as tutoring programs. They wouldn’t have to with “unrestricted” access to our public education dollars.
Would these board members make sure that programs for students with special needs gets funded? They wouldn’t have to with “unrestricted” access to our public education tax dollars.
Did you know that the legislature passed a law in 2011 which transferred $6 billion dollars “annually” of our tax dollars from the general fund to local governments to pay for such things as supervising parolees? Did you know that this is the same amount that the legislature is claiming would be cut from schools if proposition 30 does not pass?
Why did they set up this threat to public education? The threat was created by our legislators because a huge amount of money is at stake for the rich. Maybe some of our elected officials care more amount their rich campaign contributors than the public at large.
Many of their campaign contributors have financial interests in the education market. One example is Pearson, the largest testing company in our country. Pearson also owns Connections Academy, the second largest online education company in the nation and they own the Penguin group and the Financial Times, among other entities and conglomerates.
Maybe our legislature forgot that they represent all the people, not just the privileged few who can donate large sums to their campaigns. We need to remind them that we the people do not take kindly to threats. Threatening public education is tantamount to threatening our democracy.
In fact Proposition 30 even ends the current state funding for the open meeting act procedures. Open meeting procedures help ensure transparency and oversight by the public as to how our public funds are spent. Prop 30 would stop paying for this- a fact not mentioned in the media. Many would consider the consequences of Proposition 30 anti-democratic, as there can be found purposeful lack of transparency and lack of oversight throughout the proposal.
For anyone who cares about equality and human dignity, you must read the following!
You will need to get your voter guide out while reading this, as you will be guided to specific references in your voter guide related to proposition 30.
GET YOUR VOTER GUIDE OUT AND BE READY TO SEE THE TRUTH BEHIND THE SPIN!!
VOTE NO ON PROP 30!
It is a complete scam!!! It will “permanently” deplete the general fund so that tax dollars are allocated to law enforcement funding without any state oversight. Proposition 30 would accomplish this by amending our state constitution.
Prop 30 is not about funding public education, in fact if passed it could result in severe inequities in educational funding with consequential harm to both students and educators alike!!
Currently the law mandates that a portion of our tax dollars be set aside and be used only for specific purposes like for students with special needs or for low income students.
Prop 30 will abolish the required funding for low income students; English language learners and funding for students with disabilities!!!
The proof is in your voter guide.
Turn to pages 14 &15 of your voter guide: Read the paragraph entitled “STATE SPENDING-BACKGROUND”.
Within the first paragraph of this background section, read the last sentence…” A LARGE SHARE OF THE STATE AND LOCAL FUNDING THAT IS ALLOCATED TO SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES IS “UNRESTRICTED”. Unrestricted means that these tax dollars allocated to our schools and community colleges can be spent on anything and not necessarily on any particular programs.
What does a “large share” of the funding being unrestricted mean? It means that SOME FUNDS ARE RESTRICTED by law to be used only for particular programs. These restricted funds are also known as categorical funding, which most people care about, as funds are set aside to assist those students most in need!!! Like low income students or students with disabilities!!
Keep your voter guide open and turn to page 14, second column, last paragraph entitled “proposal” (This would be the plan under prop 30); Read this paragraph. Staying on this same paragraph, now turn to page 15, and count 6 lines down, first sentence reads …..: “schools and community colleges could use these funds (from prop 30) for “any” educational purpose”….”…”the funds would be distributed the same way as existing ‘unrestricted” per-student funding”.
Again, instead of using funds for students with special needs which is required by current law, under prop 30 the board members/privatizers can use these funds to hire more consultants and displace qualified educators. The board members can decide not to fund English language learner programs, which again is required by current law, because under prop 30 all the funds would now be UNRESTRICTED.
In addition the board members/privatizers will have “sole” authority to spend our public education tax dollars anyway they want. Where do the rich want our public education tax dollars spent? They want profits- so they would like to see more public education tax dollars get spent on more consultants (aka lobbyists) displacing those pesky unionized educators; more testing; more required online classes; more software; more useless data. More money for the rich corporations and less money for student learning and for students who have the most needs- low income students; English language learners and students with special needs.
PROP 30 also makes a CONSTITUIONAL AMENDMENT. Get your voter guide out and turn to page 16; Read the “background” section.
The supporters of Prop 30 would not like the majority of the public to realize the following facts.
In 2011, the state legislature transferred the responsibility for administering and funding various programs to local governments (primarily counties).
Our legislature passed a law in 2011 transferring “about” $6 billion of state tax revenues to local government annually. (YES THAT IS BILLION WITH A “B”).
PROP 30 places into the California state constitution an amendment that would continue to deplete the general fund by maintaining the transfer of these state tax revenues that were redirected in 2011 to continue to pay for these transferred program responsibilities such as parolee supervision. Now turn to page 17 of your voter guide and read the fiscal effects of this constitutional amendment. The first line reads in part: State costs could be higher for the transferred programs than they otherwise would have been because this measure (1) guarantees that the state will continue providing funds to local governments to pay for them, (3) authorizes local governments to refuse to implement new state laws and regulations that increase their costs unless that state provides additional funds.
Now go to page 16 of your voter guide: read the background and the proposal sections. Now focus on page 16, 1st column, last paragraph; last sentence: “ the measure (PROP 30) also permanently excludes the sales tax revenues redirected to local governments from the calculation of the minimum funding “guarantee” for schools and community colleges”.
What does that mean?- this constitutional amendment permanently depletes the general fund to infinity unless a new constitutional amendment comes along- this money can never be used for calculating the minimum funding requirement for schools and community colleges ensured by current law. What does this mean? This will lead to less money in the general fund for ensuring an equitable distribution of education funding throughout the state.
This means less money in the general fund to be re-distributed to over the 1000 school districts within our state; to the over 70 community college districts within our state and less funding to the 58 county offices of education within our state.
Given the language of prop 30, the educational funding of our public education system will become more inequitable as board members are given a blank check to use our public education tax dollars.
Prop 30 will also hurt seniors, low income people and the disabled.
Now go to your voter guide and read pages 15-17 on the fiscal effects of PROP 30.
What does it all mean?- If prop 30 were to pass, there could actually be less money for many health and social service programs. Again, this would be cuts to programs for our most vulnerable people-our seniors; our low income people and our disabled people!!! This would mean cuts to programs that could affect you, or one or your friends or family members
The proof is in your voter guide.
Go to your voter guide on page 15; second column; second line down and read: “the budget plan also includes actions to constrain spending in some health and social service programs”.
And last, but certainly not least: go to page 16 of your voter guide: second column; last paragraph entitled: “ends state reimbursement of open meeting act costs”
What does this paragraph state? PROP 30 would no longer require the state to be responsible for paying local agencies for the costs of following the open meeting procedures in the Brown act!! Who is subject to the Brown act? The list includes: School districts, charter schools, community college districts and county offices of education. The same entities that Prop 30 wants to give a blank check to. Who will pay for the open meeting act procedures? Prop 30 does not specify. What does this mean for the enforcement of the open meeting act procedures? Again, not specified.
We should never allow a constitutional amendment to permanently deplete general funds without oversight, especially when many other important programs for seniors and low income people get cut!!
Prop 30 is a disgrace to humanity and millions will be left broken if passed.
Prop 30 can cause more severe budget deficits, lacks transparency and lacks oversight of our tax dollars and actually hurts public education funding for the most vulnerable student populations!!!
All one can say about prop 30 is: what an amazing spin job- unless one reads the fine print!! Do not be fooled- this is class warfare!!
We, the people are the many and they, the profiteers are the few- we must take back our democracy and it begins by saying no to prop 30!!!
Triggers cuts must be taken from the greedy tax grabbers: Pearson; K-12 Inc; charter schools and their operators; Avid center; Learn-it systems; Edsource; West-ed, Capital Impact Llc, public-private partnerships that only benefit the rich, and so-called education non-profits that suck up tax dollars like it’s cool-aid.
We, the people of the state of California must demand an end to the useless data and harmful testing. We must demand a restoration of a healthy learning environment where society as whole benefits. It is our tax dollars and we need to say enough is enough.
Public education is being purposely de-funded- the money is there but it is being funneled to the profiteers!!
Charter schools already lack oversight and Prop 30 will allow them to spend our tax dollars with sole discretion, trust them to honestly report monies spent and if there is misappropriation of funds found, the attorney general is NOT required to prosecute!! What a joke!!! Just say no! Taken right out of the language of prop 30 (page 83 of your voter guide, paragraph enumerated”(6); 2nd line down:
“a charter school (nonelected privatizers), school district (which are the school board members-many placed by Eli broad and Edvoice PAC); community college district (which are non-elected board of governors currently composed of privatizers); county offices of education (which are mostly non-elected privatizers) shall have sole authority to determine how the monies received from the education protection account are spent”
As the Broad Foundation and others continue to finance the placement of key education decision makers, Prop 30 would ensure less oversight, so the profiteers can continue to privatize public education and segregate student populations. This is a historic time- we must not let the scam artists win!!
Public education should be a quality, accessible and equitable system for all.
Prop 30 would ensure that the gap between the haves and have nots widens while eroding any sense of dignity for humankind.
Prop 30 is extremely anti-democratic as respect for democracy disappears with every section of the text.
Let’s take our democracy back, say no to Prop 30 and demand an end to the continuous flow of our public education tax dollars to greedy tax grabbers- they do not care about public education, they do not care about diversity and they certainly do not care about our most vulnerable people.
It is not an accident that the California Charter School Association supports prop 30.
Solution:
The working class people and now the many unemployed people of the state of California must demand a rescission to the trigger cuts put in place by the puppets for the rich (our elected legislators). We must demand end to the constant flow of our tax dollars to the rich that see public education as a cash cow and not a system for the public good.
If there are any cuts to be made, they must come from entities that should not have received our tax dollars in the first place- the greedy tax grabbers like Pearson that are destroying public education.
The tax dollars are ours- let’s get it back to where it belongs- to help all Californians and to restore the best equitable, accessible and quality education system ever. We can do this!! Do not let those who practice discrimination win!!
And do NOT fall for Prop 38- Molly Munger’s tax initiative proposal. Munger is on numerous boards of wealthy groups that want very much to privatize our public education system. Munger sits of the board of directors of the James Irvine Foundation. The James Irvine Foundation, along with the Lumina Foundation has been funding IHELP- the Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy. IHELP has been responsible for initiating the destruction of our public community college system by issuing absurd recommendations that always result in discriminatory recommendations for our most vulnerable student populations.
Munger also sits on the board of Children Now with Ted Mitchell of New Schools venture fund and with Larry Mendonca of Edvoice.
Prop 38, like Prop 30 is simply another pathway to privatize and destroy of our public education system and turn it into a cash cow for the rich.
Vote NO of Prop 38!
Vote No on Prop 30!
Demand a rescission to the discriminatory budget trigger cuts which are really a scam to benefit the rich!!!
Defend and Save our public education system! JUST SAY NO AND STOP TRIGGER CUTS WITH MASS ACTION!
United Public Workers For Action www.upwa.info