WHAT 1B WILL DO: Restores Proposition 98-level school funding by pulling $9.3 billion from 1A’s ‘rainy day’ fund.
WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE YES: This initiative prioritizes education, taking a thoughtful approach to the state’s funding future.
Although Proposition 1B is clearly the package’s black sheep ‘mdash; the only initiative that gives nothing but takes a lot ‘mdash; it appropriately situates funding for K-12 education and community colleges as a top state priority. The measure would take from 1A-secured funds to recover about $9.3 billion owed to schools under 1988’s Proposition 98. This is money that education has been shorted in recent years because of budgetary strain.
While 1B has flaws ‘mdash; perhaps most notably that it excludes four-year universities ‘mdash; increasing education funding represents the kind of long-term investment California needs. Right now the state’s public school system is deteriorating, and with it a generation of young citizens. One out of every eight children in America is educated in California, but a Stanford University report found that the state ranks seventh lowest nationally in mathematics, third lowest in reading and second lowest in science. And California’s plagued with high dropout rates; Los Angeles, for example has a 56 percent dropout rate, according to an April 22 report from the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.
This translates to increased unemployment, crime, incarceration and health-care costs for the state. Meanwhile, high-school graduates contribute to state and federal taxes at about twice the rate of dropouts, according to a 2006 National Public Radio report.
A well-educated and informed citizenry will ameliorate (if not altogether correct) many of the state’s most costly problems. By giving our schools the support they need, voters and legislators are making a wise investment in the state’s future.