Propositions 30 & 38: the breakdown

First of all, the context: There have been $20 billion in cuts in public education over the past five years, which has drastically affected PreK-12 education, along with higher education (community colleges, CSUs, and UCs). As a result of budget cuts, there have been fewer classes, fewer teachers, bigger class sizes, fewer libraries and librarians, fewer guidance counselors, fewer (if any) electives, fewer resources, fewer funds per student, fewer school days, higher tuition for higher education students, and the list goes ever on. There has been less funding over time, even though there have been more students in California over time, especially in our growing Latino-Hispanic population (51% of our students are Latino-Hispanic). California is 47th in our nation in terms of the quality of our public education and how we allocate our funds for it. For the first time in history, our children and future generations are worse off than their parents and previous generations in terms of public education propelling them to social mobility. Our public education system foresees an even deeper $6 billion cut this year, which equals cutting the school year to fifteen fewer instructional days than the already shortened school year (which, for example, means a high school senior graduating from a California public high school will not have the same leverage for college admissions as a high school senior graduating from another state), even fewer funds per student, and deep trigger cuts to the community colleges, CSUs, and UCs (which, for example, means 180,000 fewer students will be able to attend a California community college, much less graduate on time from a public university in this state). These impending cuts will occur if either Proposition 30 or 38 does not pass. Both propositions propose to restore funding to our public education system.

Proposition 30 - the breakdown: If passed, Prop 30 will fund K-12 and higher education by increasing the income tax of the wealthy for 7 years. 90% of the revenue comes from incomes above $500,000.  The other revenue comes from a 1/4 of a cent increase on sales tax over the next four years. In other words, if you buy a $4 cheeseburger, you will be paying an extra cent of sales tax via Prop 30.

Proposition 38 - the breakdown: If passed, Prop 38 will fund early childhood education and K-12 education by raising almost twice as much money that Prop 30 does over 12 years. The revenue will come from increasing income tax rates based on a sliding scale, so everyone contributes something. Someone making $25,000-50,000 a year can expect to contribute an extra $54 a year via Prop 38, while those making more will contribute more. However, existing tax credits wipe out tax increases for families of four or more making under $50,000 a year. The tax increase will be tax-deductible, and the government will reimburse 25% of the tax.

The final say: Both of these propositions restore funding to our public education system, but by different means. Prop 38 seems to restore more funding for PreK-12 education via an income tax increase on everyone over 12 years, while Prop 30 seems to restore funding for K-12 and higher education via an income tax increase on the wealthy over 7 years and a sales tax increase over 4 years. There will ultimately be more funding for education if Prop 38 passes. Essentially, one of these propositions needs to pass to restore funding to our schools. They can both NOT pass, but they can't BOTH pass. Only one proposition can pass of the two, which is why they're often seen as competing with one another. Whichever proposition earns more votes will ultimately take effect. If you are confused about which one is better, vote "yes" on both, because at least we will have more funding for our schools either way. Please don't vote "no" on both, because our kids desperately need the funding. Ask any teacher, and they will tell you stories firsthand of how much they do. Please cast a ballot for those who can't - the kids, and the families of our kids in our neediest schools.