Local officials are forever blaming state politicians for pilfering their tax money, dictating what they can and cannot do and generally making their lives miserable.
Instead of whining, Davis school board member Richard Harris proposed a truly smart idea and got other board members to embrace it.
By placing Measure E on the Nov. 6 ballot, they hope to create a safety net for their schools, to be funded by Davis residents. If other officials thought in similar terms, schools would be in far better shape.
For the next three weeks, school board members across California will be warning about drastic cuts to public schools that will come about if voters reject Proposition 30, the initiative that Gov. Jerry Brown is promoting to raise $6 billion a year in taxes.
Brown and Democratic leaders have said that if Proposition 30 fails – and its support seems to be slipping – they will slash more than $5 billion from public schools. Local school boards probably will react by laying off teachers and cutting short the school year.
But Harris, who by day is a Capitol lobbyist, promoted Measure E to extend Davis schools' existing parcel tax of $204. The measure would impose an additional $242 parcel tax on Davis residents, but only if voters statewide reject Proposition 30.
The $242 parcel tax would produce $3.7 million, the amount that Davis schools stand to lose if Proposition 30 fails. We'd prefer that voters approve Proposition 30. But Harris doesn't want Davis schools to suffer because of the whims of voters in the rest of the state.
Voters in Davis see the value of public schools and regularly support extra taxes. There is a broader lesson for the rest of the state. If the lawmakers in the Capitol won't come through, voters and local officials should take matters into their own hands.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by the Editorial Board
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.