Strong Support for Prop A
May 31, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — With the governor proposing a $4 billion-dollar cut in education spending due to the current $16 billion-dollar state budget deficit, voters on June 3 will consider Prop A, which would create local funding for schools through a $198 annual parcel tax on private and commercial property in San Francisco, with exemption for seniors.
The presence of Proposition A on the June 3 ballot is the result of years of discussions by many San Francisco groups. Gaining unanimous support from the San Francisco Unified School District, teachers union, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Board of Supervisors, private businesses, local grassroots and community organizations, and others, Prop A seeks to gain and retain better teachers for schools in addition to providing dollars for better infrastructure. Expected to bring in 28.8 million dollars annually, 70 percent will go directly to increasing teachers’ salaries with the remaining 30 percent allocated for technology and grants to high performing schools.
With the high cost of living in San Francisco, many teachers opt to teach in other, higher-paying districts. Prop A will increase a teacher’s salary by up to $10,000, as well as provide bonuses in the third, fifth and tenth year of teaching — the years in which teachers tend to drop off and leave.
These increases in pay will enable San Francisco to attract the best teachers and make San Francisco competitive against other districts. It will provide higher pay for harder-to-staff subjects like math, science and special education, and create salary incentives for teachers in rougher-to-teach schools. It will expand the Peer Assisted Review program, designed to address and evaluate low-performing teachers and assist them in transitioning out of the occupation should they fail to meet objectives, thus elevating the entire profession and holding teachers more accountable.
Superintendent Carlos Garcia has said parents will also benefit by gaining better access to their children’s test scores and tracking daily work through the $3.5 million set aside for technology. These dollars will put in place a system where parents can have immediate access to their child’s regular performance online or via phone, from homework being missed that day to class absences.
Asian Americans are the largest consumers of education in San Francisco, and the retention of better qualified teachers equates to a more rigorous curriculum, as well as second-language and bilingual teachers for new immigrant students.
Hydra Mendoza, the mayor’s education adviser, acknowledges that the bill may have its skeptics, particularly among Asian American homeowners concerned about paying more for their property. “Anytime people hear the word ‘tax’ they get nervous,” Mendoza said.
However, $198 a year comes out to about $16 per month, and according to Mendoza, the opportunity to invest in education might actually help increase the value of homes by providing excellent teachers, better schools and a greater workforce in San Francisco.
Mendoza, who is also the mother of two children in the SFUSD, believes that this is an opportunity for San Francisco to step up locally to improve education. At a time when state funds are proving to be unreliable, Mendoza said, “supporting Prop A on June 3 is important to benefit the lives of our kids with outstanding teachers, because every kid deserves an outstanding teacher.”
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