RECAP: LA, Central Valley, and SF Leaders Advocate for Prop. 15
Three press conferences throughout the state shows that momentum behind Prop. 15 continues to gain steam
Elected and educational leaders throughout California rallied behind Prop. 15 as a desperately-needed solution to the dire economic shortfalls schools and local governments face in the years to come. In Los Angeles, the Central Valley, and San Francisco, elected and education leaders held press conferences to spotlight the dire local needs for schools and essential services, and why Prop. 15 is so necessary for California's recovery and reinvestment:
Los Angeles
Congressmember Karen Bass: “I can’t think of an issue more important than what we’re talking about today. … The need for money for schools and health clinics is so urgent. … Before COVID, we knew we had an achievement gap. Now, I am so worried that the achievement gap is going to be so much wider.”
UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz: “Prop. 15 will benefit every single student in the state, but it will also benefit those students who are of highest need. By adding to the Local Control Funding Formula, it builds on equitable funding for schools.”
LAUSD School Board Member Monica Garcia: “Las escuelas de LAUSD se encuentran en el puesto 39 a nivel académico, en comparación con otros distritos escolares del país. El dinero será utilizado para que cada joven pueda leer, para que los maestros estén preparados, para centros de bienestar y consejería.”
LACCD Board Member Mike Fong: “Community colleges represent a vital pathway to success, especially for historically underprivileged students. … Proposition 15 would be absolutely critical for the long-term challenges that community colleges face.”
LAUSD School Bus Driver John Lewis: “Essential workers have risen to the challenge. It’s time for corporations to as well.”
Central Valley
Naindeep Singh Chann, Executive Director of the Jakarta Movement and Clerk Trustee of Central Unified School District: “With Proposition 15, Schools & Communities First, we have the opportunity to bring back $12 billion in reinvestment into the communities, into the neighborhoods, and into the schools that need it most.”
Genoveva Islas, Founder & Executive Director of Cultiva La Salud: “This would allow reinvestments into low-income communities and communities of color.”
Dr. Darren Miller, Trustee of the Fresno County Board of Education: “We’re talking about commercial properties, we’re talking about industrial properties, which have been locked into a tax rate equivalent to 1978.”
Jose Gurrola, Mayor of Arvin: “In the Central Valley, we have a tale of two Valleys. We have, on one side, billion dollar industries that extract billions of dollars of wealth on the backs of working families who struggle to feed their families, go to schools that could be doing better at providing opportunities.”
Dolores Huerta, President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and Co-Founder of the United Farm Workers: “This money is going to our schools and to our communities, that’s why it’s called Schools & Communities First. It will not affect homeowners and small businesses. If your business is worth under $3 million, it will not affect small businesses. Not only that, but small businesses will get a break!”
San Francisco
SF Supervisor Matt Haney: “We have a structural problem with how our schools are funded in California. … This is one of the most important propositions in a very long time. For folks who care about schools, our future, our students – we are all united behind this.”
SF Supervisor Shamann Walton: “For far too long, education in California has been underfunded. If we look at this current crisis and this pandemic that we are in, this is really now the time for us to step up and make sure we get the resources to provide students the best education possible.”
SFUSD School Board President Mark Sanchez: “We are actually witnessing the virtual collapse of public education, with the chronic and systemic underfunding of schools, compounded with the COVID crisis. … Proposition 15 is going to bring billions of dollars to our schools and to our communities. .. It’s common-sense to tax mega-wealthy corporate interests at a fair rate.”
UESF President Susan Solomon: “While we’re acutely aware of the difficulties our students and parents are facing this year, it’s scary to think that it’s nothing compared to what it could be like next year, when schools face an even bigger funding deficit. … We’re deeply committed to our students, and we just cannot sit back and let them see their futures stolen from them.”
Coleman Advocates leader Kevin Borgess: “We need everyone to pay their fair share, especially wealthy corporations. This won’t impact everyday Californians.”