California Schools and Taxes
by Duane E. Campbell
California, like most states, needs additional revenue to fund schools and to invest in the future. Atax plan known as The Millionaires Tax has been proposed bythe California Federation of Teachers and the Courage Campaign to increaserevenues to pay for vital services. It was assigned the officialtitle "Tax To Benefit Public Schools, Social Services, Public Safety, AndRoad Maintenance,". The Sacramento Progressive Alliance has been circulating this initiative.
On March 15, Governor Jerry Brownagreed to modify his proposed tax plan to make it more like the more progressive plan of CFT, theCourage Campaign and others.
California public schools are in crisis- and they aregetting worse. This is a direct result of massive budget cuts imposed by thelegislature and the governor in the last four years. Total per pupil expenditure is down by over $1,000 perstudent. The result- massive class size increases. Students are in often classes too large for learning. Supplementary services such as tutoringand art classes have been eliminated. Over 14,000 teachers have been dismissed, and thousands more face layoffs this fall.
Californiaschools are now 47th. in the nation in per pupil expenditure and 49thin class size. Our low
