History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Recent Election Could Increase Education Gaps
- 06-11-2010
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By UCLA/IDEA Staff
Themes in the News for the week of June 7-11, 2011
On Tuesday, California voters in seven school districts approved parcel taxes to boost their local school funding. Parcel tax votes failed in two districts—Cutler-Orosi USD in the Central Valley and Los Angeles USD. (Ballotpedia). Last year 29 school districts put parcel taxes on the ballot, and 20 passed (San Jose Mercury News). This year 22 such measures have been brought to a vote, and 16 have passed.
As California’s schools face continuing budget crises, more school districts are turning to parcel taxes. According to Ballotpedia, an online site dedicated to promoting elections transparency, parcel taxes are “a form of property tax, which must be paid by the owners of parcels of real estate. However, unlike standard property taxes, which are based on the value of the property, a parcel tax is a flat assessment which is identical for all homes or businesses in the affected area, so that the owner of a $200,000 home would pay the same parcel tax as the owner of a $5 million home.”
LAUSD’s parcel tax, Measure E, failed even though it garnered 53% of the vote. (Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News). Districts’ use of parcel taxes may worsen school inequalities across the state (Educational Opportunity Report). because larger and/or poorer school districts are less likely to muster the required 2/3 majority required to pass such taxes (Educational Opportunity Report). All of the districts that have passed parcel taxes this year have enrollments below 15,000, with the exception of San Francisco Unified. Also, in the 16 districts that approved parcel tax measures this year, the average free and reduced lunch rate is 27%, compared to 54% in the six districts where the measures failed (UCLA IDEA calculation).
LAUSD lost out on much-needed funds in Tuesday’s vote. The tax would have decreased the district’s $640-million deficit with a $100-a-year tax per parcel for four years. The money would have prevented further class-size increases and cuts to arts and music programs (San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times).
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