The Educated Guess � Few low-income districts pass parcel taxes

The Educated Guess � Few low-income districts pass parcel taxes

Parcel taxes are one of the few ways that cash-strapped school districts can raise money for schools. Few districts try, in part because it takes a two-thirds majority of voters to pass one. And most often, it’s wealthy communities that succeed.
In its report, Educational Opportunities in Hard Times, UCLA’s Institute of Demcracy, Education and Access looked at the 29 districts that put a parcel tax on the ballot last year. In the 20 districts that passed a parcel tax, the average percentage of students receiving free or reduced price lunches — a measure of poverty — was 15 percent. In the nine districts in which the parcel tax lost, an average of 56 percent of students received free or reduced lunches. In not one of the districts that passed a parcel tax was the average percentage of students received free or reduced lunches above 40 percent.