SacBee — Education: Poll finds Jerry Brown has a chance to pass Proposition 30

By David Siders

Public support for Gov. Jerry Brown’s initiative to raise taxes remains below 50 percent, but the measure no longer appears to be on a downward trajectory, leaving Brown within striking distance one week before Election Day, according to a new Field Poll.

Likely voters favor the initiative 48 percent to 38 percent, with 14 percent undecided, according to the poll.

Voters surveyed late last week and early this week were marginally more likely to favor the initiative than those surveyed in previous days. Of voters who have already cast ballots, 54 percent voted for the initiative, the poll found.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/01/4953132/poll-finds-jerry-brown-has-a-chance.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

via Poll finds Jerry Brown has a chance to pass Proposition 30.

Dan Walters: California Democrats hope for surge of young voters

There definitely has been a big surge in California voter registration in recent days – largely young and Democratic – fueled by the party’s pre-election drives and a new online registration system.

The secretary of state’s office will report final pre-election numbers today, but it already appears that registration could easily top 18 million potential voters, up sharply from 17.3 million in the 2008 presidential election and the 17.2 million counted in early September.

The question that political oddsmakers are asking is whether the registration surge will translate into a relatively high voter turnout, something like the 79.4 percent recorded in 2008.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/02/4956034/dan-walters-california-democrats.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/02/4956034/dan-walters-california-democrats.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy

via Dan Walters: California Democrats hope for surge of young voters.

EdSource Today: Big districts divided over cutting school year if Prop. 30 fails

By Kathryn Baron and John Fensterwald

California’s 30 largest school districts are about evenly divided on whether they plan to further shorten this academic year if Proposition 30 fails next week, according to a new survey by EdSource Today. A third of the districts have already negotiated with their unions to lop anywhere from a week to a month from the school calendar if the initiative is defeated. Slightly more than a third report that they do not plan any more furlough days, and the rest say that a shorter school year remains an option that they plan to raise with their unions.

Responses from the 30 largest school districts, enrolling a third of the state’s 6.2 million students (see chart below), represent a snapshot of how school officials and teachers unions will deal with the consequences if Prop. 30 is defeated. However, the picture remains fluid. Some districts shifted their positions during the two weeks that EdSource Today collected information, and others offered ambiguous answers, reflecting uncertainty over how they’ll respond to a sizable cut to their budgets.

via Big districts divided over cutting school year if Prop. 30 fails – by Kathryn Baron and John Fensterwald.

Daily Republic: Columnist gives stories behind state ballot issues

FAIRFIELD — Political columnist Dan Walters on Wednesday shared views on the upcoming election that go beyond what can be found in advertisements or the voter’s pamphlet.

Walters, who writes for the Sacramento Bee and whose columns appear in the Daily Republic, talked about many of the 11 propositions, including Proposition 40, which addresses redistricting, and Proposition 30, which is a tax measure backed by Gov. Jerry Brown. He compared the behind-the-scenes maneuverings to a popular Mad magazine Cold War comic feature.

via Columnist gives stories behind state ballot issues.

Dan Morain: Muddled strategy aside, Brown still could win

From now until Election Day, President Barack Obama will make heavy use of two of California’s top Democrats, Attorney General Kamala Harris and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, to help win over voters in the most vital swing states.

They’ll travel from North Carolina to Florida and Ohio up though Tuesday. But what’s good for the president doesn’t fit into Gov. Jerry Brown’s plans.

For four decades, Brown has been a one-man band. He’s not changing that tune as he tries to persuade Californians to vote for Proposition 30, the initiative that would raise taxes by $6 billion and is teetering in the polls.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/31/4949971/muddled-strategy-aside-brown-still.html#mi_rss=Opinion#storylink=cpy

via Dan Morain: Muddled strategy aside, Brown still could win.

Dan Walters: What to do if Proposition 30 fails?

As the political odds turn against Proposition 30, Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax measure, political insiders are turning their attention, however reluctantly, to the fallout should, indeed, voters reject the sales and income tax hike on Tuesday.

The measure would deliver $6 billion a year in new revenues and should it fail, Brown and the Legislature have already passed $6 billion in so-called “trigger cuts” that would be imposed, overwhelmingly on K-12 schools.

So that would seem to be that. But it’s not.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/31/4949976/dan-walters-what-to-do-if-proposition.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy

via Dan Walters: What to do if Proposition 30 fails?.

Dan Walters: CSU plunges overboard into politics

The California State University system has traditionally been the steady workhorse of California higher education, generating the engineers, teachers, accountants and middle-managers that any society needs.

Meanwhile, the more prestigious University of California has been the racehorse, scooping up money from alumni, foundations and corporations, luring Nobel laureates to its faculty, awarding advanced degrees, fostering world-class scientific research and flaunting its constitutional independence from political control. While the state Legislature can mandate policy at CSU, UC answers only to its regents.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/30/4947554/dan-walters-csu-plunges-overboard.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy

via Dan Walters: CSU plunges overboard into politics.

FSUSD’s Facebook Wall: The Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District is holding its final informational meeting on budgets

The Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District is holding its final informational meeting for the community regarding school budgets and financing. Information on the initiatives that will appear on the November 6 ballot will also be reviewed. The meeting is scheduled for October 30 at Crystal Middle School, 400 Whispering Bay Lane, Suisun City, at 6:00 p.m.

This information may also be found on our website at www.fsusd.org/Page/5962 .

via The Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District is holding its final informational….

EdSource Today: Boards, teachers must be careful to toe the line on advocacy

By John Fensterwald

The humanities professor from California State University, Monterey Bay who was sued by the conservative Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association this month for urging his students in an email to vote for the tax initiative Proposition 30 ran afoul of the state law (Government Code Section 8314) that bans the use of public resources for campaign activities.

CSU  acknowledged as much, calling Professor Ernest Stromberg’s message over the campus email system, which urged students not only to vote for Prop 30, but to work to pass it, “inappropriate and unfortunate.”

via Boards, teachers must be careful to toe the line on advocacy – by John Fensterwald.

Daily Republic Opinion: Prop 30 – State lacks will to devastate our schools

We hear it on the television, on the radio and over the Internet. We see it in mailers sent to our homes. It’s the threat to our schools should Proposition 30 fail.

The threat would be comical in any other circumstances, but this is California, where our elected leaders will try to hold residents hostage – through their children – to get a sought-after infusion of new tax dollars.

California’s budget counts on the new taxes to make ends meet, even though they won’t. Literally billions of dollars that our schools need to educate our children hang in the balance, the governor and proponents of Proposition 30 maintain.

via State lacks will to devastate our schools.

SacBee — Opinion – Peter Schrag: Proposition 30: Can’t California do better?

If you’re old enough and have a perverse turn of mind, you may recall the National Lampoon cover from 1973 with the picture of a gun pointed at the head of a dog and the caption “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine We’ll Kill This Dog.”

That’s not quite like the “trigger” budget provisions attached to Gov. Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30, but close enough. If you, the voters, don’t pass this tax increase, the schools and community colleges will automatically lose $5.4 billion and the universities another $500 million.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/26/4939777/proposition-30-cant-california.html#mi_rss=Opinion#storylink=cpy

via Peter Schrag: Proposition 30: Can’t California do better?.

Dan Walters: Jerry Brown’s tax boost is in trouble

The governor of California may not be toast – yet – but, one might say, he’s turning browner by the moment in the heat of a political campaign he hoped would be his legacy achievement.

Two new statewide polls confirm what political instincts – and Jerry Brown’s body language – were already telling us: His tax increase measure, Proposition 30, is fading fast with scarcely a week remaining until Election Day.

Proposition 30, a $6 billion per year boost in sales and income taxes that Brown said would resolve the state’s chronic fiscal problems, never was particularly popular with voters, whose disdain for Sacramento politics is palpable.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/26/4939856/dan-walters-jerry-browns-tax-boost.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy

via Dan Walters: Jerry Brown’s tax boost is in trouble.

EdSource Today: School initiative’s bumpy road to the ballot box

By Louis Freedberg

The thicket of obstacles Governor Brown and his allies have run into in trying to convince voters to approve his initiative to raise funds for schools and the state budget underscores the extreme hazards of trying to convince California voters to raise taxes, even for a cause they’re predisposed to support.

A combination of an unexpected and bitter rivalry among pro-education forces that should have been allies, greater than expected and deeper-pocketed opposition to the Brown initiative, and voters still struggling to cope with the enduring economic downturn in a state that reflexively votes against tax increases have all conspired to make it impossible to predict victory on November 6.

Instead, school officials and other education advocates are filled with a sense of dread that neither Prop. 30 nor Prop. 38, the rival initiative sponsored by civil rights attorney Molly Munger, will get the simple majority they need on November 6, resulting in an automatic $5.4 billion in “trigger cuts” to schools and community colleges.

via School initiative’s bumpy road to the ballot box – by Louis Freedberg.

The Reporter Editorial: Prop. 38 is best for schools

When it comes to Proposition 30, the tax measure backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, The Reporter Editorial Board is as divided as California voters, who, according to a poll this week, are nearly evenly split for and against it.

But unlike the Public Policy Institute of California’s survey showing that most voters oppose Proposition 38, the Editorial Board is unanimous in its support for that initiative, which would raise income taxes across the board to support public schools and preschools.

During a discussion about the two measures, those opposed to Proposition 30 said it came down to a matter of trust.

via Editorial: Prop. 38 is best for schools.

The Educated Guess: Responses to EdSource infographic comparing Props. 30 and 38

After publishing our infographic that compares Prop. 30 and Prop. 38, we received the following responses from the campaigns and others knowledgeable about the propositions and the issues involved. Free free to add your own response to our infographic below.

via Responses to EdSource infographic comparing Props. 30 and 38 – by Brent Zupp.

SacBee: Jerry Brown pivots to link Proposition 30 to voters’ top issue — jobs

FRESNO – His tax initiative in trouble just two weeks before Election Day, Gov. Jerry Brown is re-tuning his campaign message, casting his initiative as a jobs measure in a bid to broaden its appeal.

The adjustment, made by Brown in a series of recent public appearances, reflects the urgency of a campaign that is seeking to untie itself from controversy about education spending and to blunt conservative attacks centered on the economy, the most significant issue to voters in this election year.

“I say Proposition 30 is about jobs, because it’s about kids and teachers, and they produce the brains and the skills that make the jobs of the future possible,” Brown told teachers in San Francisco on Saturday, before repeating the message at a Bay Area church the next day and in a campaign blitz Tuesday through Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/24/4933678/jerry-brown-pivots-to-link-proposition.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

via Jerry Brown pivots to link Proposition 30 to voters’ top issue — jobs.

Daily Republic Letter: Retired teachers support Proposition 30

As teachers, we were dedicated to the success of our students. As retired teachers, we don’t stop caring. We remain committed to California’s children.

That’s why the California Retired Teachers Association supports Proposition 30, which will secure badly needed funding for kindergarten through community college education. Visit www.teachers4ever.com to learn more, and please join us in voting for Proposition 30.

Suzanne Carlson
CalRTA Board Member and former Fairfield-Suisun School District Teacher

Fairfield

via Retired teachers support Proposition 30.

SacBee: Funding fight on if Prop. 30 fails

By Kevin Yamamura

Long before political ads dominated the airwaves and arguments erupted over which Nov. 6 tax initiative best serves schools, Gov. Jerry Brown sought crucial support from county officials in a cramped conference room one block from the Capitol.

County leaders in January had one priority – to ensure the state would continue sending them several billion dollars to assume former state responsibilities such as housing lower-level inmates and watching parolees.

Some wanted to pursue their own initiative without the tax hike because they represent conservative voters or thought the governor’s initiative didn’t stand a chance.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/23/4930852/funding-fight-on-if-prop-30-fails.html#mi_rss=Education#storylink=cpy

via Funding fight on if Prop. 30 fails.

Dan Walters: Is Jerry Brown worried about Proposition 30?

As Election Day – and Halloween – approach, Jerry Brown may be getting spooked that his tax increase, Proposition 30, won’t make it.

The California governor once exuded confidence that voters would endorse a sharp increase in income taxes on the wealthy and a token, quarter-cent boost in sales taxes that everyone would pay, portraying it as a way of shoring up support for schools, the single most popular way government spends money.

A cornerstone of that confidence was that he had neutralized potential opposition from business, leaving tax increase foes relatively poor, while raising tens of millions of dollars, mostly from unions, to drive home his message.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/23/4930753/dan-walters-is-jerry-brown-worried.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy

via Dan Walters: Is Jerry Brown worried about Proposition 30?.