This November, California voters must decide two policy questions of great concern to public-sector unions. One is a tax hike to stave off further cuts to state spending (there are two versions on the ballot with a chance of passing). The other is a "paycheck protection" measure that would ban the practice of unions' deducting money from…

Not long after he took office in January, California Governor Jerry Brown presented residents of his state with a simple, stark plan for correcting the state's massive budget imbalance. The Democrat called for making deep and painful cuts to programs across government, while sparing schools. To raise revenue, he proposed allowing the public to…

A Maintenance of Effort (MOE) provision for higher education was first adopted in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 and was included as a requirement for states to participate in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The information in this article was presented before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on…

This policy brief reviews the recent experience of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) with the development and approval of Proposition A. Proposition A (also known as the Quality Teacher and Education Act, or QTEA) included a parcel tax mainly dedicated to increasing teachers' salaries, along with a variety of measures introducing…

The pros and cons of Proposition 13's impact on health education programs in California are discussed. (LH)

Asserts that high wealth districts pay less and receive more while citizens of low wealth districts are strapped with a high tax rate that yields a low return of education, and that it is not the case that low wealth districts are mainly high income, white suburbs. (Author/IRT)

Declining enrollment and the impact of Proposition 13 are discussed in regard to retrenchment and retention rates. It is suggested that higher education establish meaningful communication and affirmative programming to lessen the effects of retrenchment and cut-backs. (Author/LC)

Following Orange County, California's well-publicized bankruptcy, Willard Intermediate School staff worry about program cuts and a possible state takeover. Voters oppose a sales tax increase to rescue programs. Located in an urban ghetto with a predominantly Hispanic population, the school was overcrowded before the bankruptcy. Future cutbacks…

This paper, number 18 in a series, chronicles the politics of school finance reform in the state of California from the mid-sixties to the passage of Proposition 13. It provides a description of the school finance setting prior to the consideration of Assembly Bill 65, including such events as the Serrano I and II decisions and the state…

This essay presents an overview of events and circumstances that contributed to California's property tax reform initiative. The consequences of Proposition 13 and its implications for the rest of the country are discussed. (EB)

The revenue and expenditure limit contained in California's SB-90 legislation was the legislature's response to the Supreme Court's mandate to equalize spending among the state's public schools. An escape valve written into SB-90 granted districts the power to override the revenue limit by a simple majority vote. This paper examines the strategies…

There are major disparities in spending and taxation among California school districts. Available resources per pupil bear little relationship to the willingness of local communities to support education or the educational task to be performed. In addition, the State school finance system forces districts to rely on local property tax bases for…

The lessons of state tax reform learned in California are that education systems need to establish working relationships with all constituencies, work closely with other groups with similar interests, build public faith in education, and encourage and support intelligent and courageous educational leadership. (MSE)

Describes how public schools can develop plans for coping with decreased student enrollment and limited revenue due to military base closures. Describes how two school districts responded to the closure of two military bases (George Air Force Base and Norton Air Force Base) in San Bernadino County, California. Two figures are included. (LMI)

Although California's real spending per pupil grew 13 percent between 1980-81 and 1990-91, real growth in educational spending here has not kept pace with the rest of the country. The reasons are complex, with many causes rooted in the state tax system design and the resulting school finance structure. This paper describes how and why California's…