(In photo above, from  r.) Backed by Gov. Jerry, faculty and college students in Chico on Monday afternoon, California Faculty Association Treasurer Susan Green (at lectern) urges voters to approve Proposition 30, the only measure on the November ballot that will protect K-12 public schools, the community colleges, and the state’s university systems.

(CHICO, Calif.) 29 October 2012 – With the election slightly more than a week away, educators, nurses, firefighters, and college students are redoubling their efforts to secure the passage of Proposition 30, the governor’s revenue measure to protect schools.

They are reminding voters Prop. 30 is the only measure on the November ballot that will protect schools against $6 billion in automatic or “trigger” cuts in the 2012-2013 state budget.  Without its passage, schools will be hit by cuts in addition to the $20 billion in cuts that have already harmed students.

In addition, Prop. 30 is the only measure that will prevent additional cuts to the community colleges and cuts and tuition increases at the state’s universities.

In the coming week, Proposition 30 supporters will be walking precincts, calling voters, and writing voters seeking their “yes” vote.

The supporters will be emphasizing that Proposition 30 will also provide future funding to schools, all of which will be allocated to schools in line with the constitutional guarantees for schools put into the state constitution by voters when they passed Proposition 98.

(Photo above:  From left, on Saturday morning, Educator Carlos Rico discusses the day’s precinct walking with volunteer Jan Arias outside the Sacramento City Teachers Association building in East Sacramento. Educators are working hard to secure voter approval of Proposition 30, the governor’s revenue measure for schools, and voter rejection of Proposition 32, the deceptive measure that would give wealthy special interests more political power.) 

(Photo at left: CTA Staff Member Seth Bramble gives volunteers some tips about effective precinct-walking as they prepare to talk to hundreds of voters in the Sacramento area.)

Throughout California on the next-to-last weekend before Election Day, Nov. 6, thousands of educators, nurses, firefighters, college students, and school supporters are taking to the streets and the phone lines to contact voters in support of Proposition 30 and in opposition to Proposition 32.

For students, parents, and educators, Proposition 30 is a vital measure.  It is the only ballot measure that will prevent another $6 billion in automatic funding cuts to K-12 public schools, the community colleges, and the state’s university systems. Cuts of that magnitude, on top of more than $20 billion in cuts that have rocked public education and harmed students, could shutter Sacramento schools 10 days early this year. Parents and teachers know that students can’t afford to lose the learning time.

For middle-class families, defeating Proposition 32, the deceptive “Special Exemptions Act,” is just as important.

Proposition 32 would increase the power of wealthy special interests to influence state politicians.  The measure would make it harder for educators and others to secure desperately needed funding from state lawmakers and the governor.

 In character as Shakespeare’s McDuff Thursday night, Louis Gallia, a fifth grader at Del Paso Elementary in the San Juan Unified School District, belts out a number, “Guys Like Me,” from the school’s musical rendition of the Bard’s Macbeth.)

Snap your fingers and stamp your feet, Mr. William Shakespeare.  Your play, Macbeth, is now a musical, thanks to a creative group of fifth-grade students and their dedicated teacher.

Ms. Karen Dean-Dancis’  fifth-graders at Del Paso Manor Elementary in the San Juan Unified School District on Thursday night sang, danced, and sword-played their way into the hearts of about 100 parents and visitors to the Carmichael California school’s auditorium.

The youngsters, with the aid and direction of their dedicated teacher, revamped the grim Shakespeare play into a lighthearted musical that ended with an ensemble presentation following McDuff’s bladed dispatch of the social-climbing Macbeth, who rose to power – at his wife’s urging – by killing the rightful king.

Achievements like these are coming at a time more than $20 billion in funding cuts have roiled local schools, leading to ballooning class sizes, reductions in art and music classes, and elimination of key positions, including nurses, counselors, and educational support professionals.

Even as Macbeth breathed his last, voters were in the process of deciding whether to approve Proposition 30, the governor’s revenue measure that would block $6 billion in automatic or “trigger cuts” to K-12 public schools, the community colleges, and the state’s university systems.

The measure is the only one on the November ballot that would prevent the “trigger” from being pulled.

(From l.) Teacher Ms. Karen Dean-Dancis, directs her fifth-grade class, who re-wrote the famous play as a musical, rehearsed dialogue, action, lyrics, and music, and performed to crowd raves twice on Thursday. Dean-Dancis is in her first year as the school’s building representative for the San Juan Teachers Association/CTA/NEA.

A newly released study by two Stanford professors debunks assertions by tax foes that California’s “high taxes,” including past increases and those pending on the November ballot, are leading millionaires to leave the state in droves.

“Millionaire Migration in California: The Impact of Top Tax Rates,” by Stanford Professors Charles Varner Cristobal Young, concludes that the number of millionaires in California fluctuates not because of “net migration,” but because the flow of money results in some rising into millionaire status one year and falling out the next.

The researchers conclude that those who become millionaires are “having a good year” and are reluctant to move out of state.

Further, neither tax increases nor tax cuts had a significant effect on the number of millionaires entering or leaving the state, the researchers conclude:

“Using difference-in-differences models, which compare migration trends of the group experiencing the tax increase to a group of high-income earners not facing a tax change, neither in-migration or out-migration show a tax flight effect from the introduction of the 2005 Mental Health Services Tax. In fact, out-migration has a “wrong-signed” estimate: out-migration declined among millionaires after the tax was passed (both in absolute terms and compared to the control group). In other words, the highest-income Californians were less likely to leave the state after the millionaire tax was passed.”

The issue of whether a millionaires’ tax is counterproductive is one that has been raised by opponents of Proposition 30, the governor’s revenue measure that would provide billions for schools by raising income tax rates on the state’s top 1% wealthiest residents and temporarily boosting the sales tax by 0.25%.

For more information about the study, see Millionaire Migration in California.

(Photo above: McGeorge Law   Mary-Beth Moylan tells the forum that she expects issues related to  the warring school funding initiatives, Proposition 30 and Proposition 38, to be worked out in the courts after the election.)

The fate of several ballot measures on the November ballot may not be decided by the voters, but by the courts, a McGeorge Law School professor opined during a Tuesday night forum on
pending ballot measures held at the Sacramento campus.

McGeorge Law Prof. Mary-Beth Moylan told a crowd of about 125 students, reporters, and members of the public that the courts would be the likely venue for the final decision about the
implementation of rival school funding measures, the governor’s Proposition 30 and Civil Rights Attorney Molly Munger’s Proposition 38.

Moylan, in a side-bar interview with blog.cta.org, said that both measures include language
specifying that they conflict with each other.  She opined that a court would way that language heavily.  She and her students assigned to vet the ballot measures noted that the California constitution specifies that whichever of the two measures on the same subject receives the most votes (assuming at least a majority), the one with the higher number of votes would take effect.

The comments came during presentations by McGeorge Law School students about the measures on the November 6 ballot.

Law Students Andew Londerholm and Nicholas Poper told the audience that Proposition
30 would block $6 billion in automatic or “trigger cuts” written into the 2012-13 state budget that would hit K-12 public education,the community colleges, and the state’s university systems.
They noted that the income tax increases that are part of the measure would affect only the state’s wealthiest 1% of taxpayers, although the .25% sales tax would be levied on items purchased by all Californians and visitors.

(From l.) As his co-author Law Student Nicholas Poper Law looks on, Law Student Andrew Londerholm notes that Proposition 30 will block $6 billion in automatic or “trigger” cuts to K-14 and higher education.

(It is unclear whether court challenges to Proposition 30 would affect whether the automatic cuts to schools would be triggered.)

In her report on Proposition 38, Student Alisha Heilman spelled out how much the income
tax increases established by the measure would cost all Californians with a taxable income in excess of $7316 annually. Heilman noted that the measure would not stop the $6 billion in trigger cuts in the state budget, and the measure would not affect higher education.  It would provide funding for early childhood education.

Other reports spanned all the pending ballot measures, and several discussed the
history and impact of the initiative process in California and compared it to initiative and referendum processes in other states.

The students’ work and commentary by the professor are available from McGeorge
School of Law’s Capital Center for Public Law & Policy.  The research has been published in the California Initiative Review 2012, Volume 11, Issue 2.

(Photo above) Following Monday night’s presidential debate, Research Assistant Professor Chris Weare, of the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Affairs in Sacramento, asks about 30 participants the “bottom line” question: who won the debate?”

(Photo below) Students and faculty of the public affairs center gave Pres. Obama higher grade than Gov. Romney for his performance, noting that his years working on foreign
policy issues gave him both vital experience and confidence.

A group of 30 graduate students and faculty quickly and by consensus awarded Pres. Barack Obama the laurel wreath at the end of the third and final presidential debate Monday evening.

 A smaller than usual audience of graduate students – winnowed by the competing baseball playoffs featuring the San Francisco Giants – said the president had demonstrated a confidence and experience.  While they saw few differences between the two candidates on foreign policy, the group from the Sol Price Sacramento Campus of the University of Southern California came to consensus that Gov. Mitt Romney looked uncertain and less forceful than the president on foreign policy issues.

The evening’s discussion was moderated by Chris Weare, a research assistant professor at the university.

Watching the debate on CNN, the group tracked the responses of a control group of undecided Florida voters, whose instant reactions were displayed via a crawl at the bottom of the screen.

Overall, the faculty and graduate students were not impressed by Gov. Romney’s attempts to blame the Obama administration for the unemployment rate that skyrocketed during the Bush years to as high as 10% before dropping below 8% recently.

The students also noticed Florida independent voters’ negative reactions when the candidates derided each other’s positions and records, rather than talking about their own policies.

One faculty member opined that the third debate may have blunted Gov. Romney’s widely reported momentum, paving the way for the Pres. Obama to recapture the votes of his base and undecided women voters.

In the USC contingent’s judgment, Commentator Bob Schieffer did an excellent job of moderating the debate.  After both the president and the governor paid homage to teachers – differing about whether hiring teachers would help the economy, Schieffer segued to the candidates’ final statements by saying, “We all love teachers.”

(From r. – Weed Teacher Dana Dillon tells Reporter Derek Demo that Proposition 32 is both complex and deceptive.  It will muzzle the voices of teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other middle-class families while increasing the political power of wealthy special interests.)

Thousands of educators took the streets and the phones on Saturday and Sunday in a major mobilization aimed at encouraging voters to pass Proposition 30, the governor’s revenue measure to aid public education, and defeat Proposition 32, the Special Exemptions Act that would increase the political power of wealthy special interests at the expense of working women and men.

Throughout the state, the efforts caught the attention of the media, both in large markets and small.

In Chico, the local NBC and CBS affiliates interviewed four educators, including Weed Teacher Dana Dillon, about the campaign efforts and the educators’ support for Proposition 30 and opposition to Proposition 32.  The 2:05 minute story ran five times on three local stations on Sunday and on every newscast on Monday.

The video showed teachers walking precincts, writing postcards, calling voters, and doing video testimonials about their positions.

The story reports that “California teachers are fighting back against proposition 32, and urging a yes vote on proposition 30. Teachers across the state took made phone calls, wrote post cards, and hit the streets, spreading the message on both propositions.”

The Chico TV story, on KHSL-TV (Ch. 12),  is available on line at Teachers-Hit-The-Streets-for-Propositions.

From Raging Grannies in Fresno to an open-top double decker bus in San Diego, educators harnessed their passion and creativity to get out the vote this weekend in support of Proposition 30 and to oppose Proposition 32.

After a weekend that included a lot of walking and talking to strangers about issues that can often be controversial, many came away feeling energized and ready for the final two weeks before the election.

“It’s important for voters to understand the truth about Propositions 30 and 32. A lot of people are unaware that 32 is very deceptive,” said CTA Boardmember Curtis Washington. “When people understand the truth you can see a light going on in their head. As a teacher I love to see that light go on.”

“In my district, we’ve already taken 12 furlough days, and we’re looking at another 5 furlough days without Prop 30. And I’m in one of the lucky districts!” said San Jose teacher Alicia Williamson. “How can we become number one in the nation in education if we don’t even have a full school year?”

Watch and listen to more from Alicia:

As part of our Community-based State Council weekend, Governor Jerry Brown joined educators in San Francisco to get out the vote and encourage voters to pass Proposition 30.

Before they headed out to knock on doors, Brown spoke about why he feels Prop 30 is the right answer for our state: “Proposition 30 is about jobs, because it’s about kids and teachers, and they produce the brains and the skills to make the jobs of the future possible. Proposition 30 is key to building our future.”

Watch the video: