Amanda Dailey
October 9, 2012
English 2
Op ed
Pay it Forward
The
economic crisis can be felt throughout the country, but being a student in
California’s state schools, you may feel the squeeze get a little tighter. In
the past two years California has made over 30 billion dollars in budget cuts,
during which public education took a hard hit. With 2.8 billion dollars being
cut from California’s higher education alone, we are looking at 6 billion more
dollars being gone by the next fiscal year. With these spending cuts California
has been ranked 47th out of 50 states in per pupil spending. This
corner cutting not only affects the students, but faculty and teachers,
followed by the quality of education provided to said students. With a budget
this low tuition costs of UCs and CSUs are said to increase 10 percent to cover
school’s debt, along with class cuts, and layoffs of faculty and staff. With
California’s working force future in jeopardy, a new plan must be made.
One solution,
proposed by Governor Jerry Brown would mean a tax hike followed by billions of
dollars in revenue for our schools and public safety. Proposition 30, is a
proposal for a temporary increase in income and sales tax for California state
residents, with an increase of 1% to 3% tax rate on taxable income over 250,000
dollars, and a .25% tax hike on sales tax. Based on the California Franchise
Tax Board, the tax increase is imposed on California’s top 3% of tax
payers. These tax increases are said to
bring an estimates 6.8 to 9 billion dollars in revenue. Proposition 30
decreases class cuts, avoids tuition hikes, prevents a 250 million dollar cut
to CSU’s , and frees up 5.6 billion in funding that goes to other public
services. Proposition 30 guarantees public safety funding, which can’t be
touched without voter approval, and restores balance to our budget, helping to
pay off state debt. The Yes on Prop 30 official website goes on record saying
“Prop. 30 funding is subject to an independent audit every year to ensure it is
being spent only for schools and public safety”(yes). With what seems like such a low cost for such
wealthy California’s following the benefits that exceed all of us, I as a
college student say, why not?
In
opposition by the Howard Arvis Tax Payers
Association, the National Federation
of Independent Businesses, and countless other small business organizations,
these tax hikes are said to be greatly inconvenient . Their informational
websites do nothing more than low blow our current politicians “The politicians
behind Prop 30 can’t keep track of the money they have, they award pay raises
to staff, spend billions on the bullet train to nowhere, and refuse to reform
wasteful spending”(Stop), and talk in circles of the tax hike. The only real
information I could find in opposition of this grace saving proposition would
be the tax increase on “all” Americans that they keep mentioning. This tax
increase on all, is the state sales tax that would increase, inconvenient, but
much needed.
What seems to be
more prevalent in the research of Proposition 30 is not its benefits, or
counter arguments, but the devastating affects if this proposition does not
pass. Held over our heads is the dooming 6 billion in immediate cuts to schools
from K-12 and state higher education. The non-solution would propose grade schools
to cut 3 weeks of school, and per pupil spending would go from a mighty low
1000 dollars to 700 dollars. These affects might feel more prominent to college
students like myself, when state community colleges would be cut 338 million
dollars in the middle of the year. Community colleges have already been asked
to stretch a very thin dollar. Winter and summer courses are already a rare commodity
where I’m from, and enrollment has only decreased more than 485,000 students.
With class sizes and layoffs increasing while course selection and staffing
decrease, what does this mean for our future as a state?
California’s
community colleges provide the largest work force training in the nation. The
Public Policy of California estimates “with enrollment decreasing nearly half
of a million students in 3 years, by 2025 California will face a shortage of 1
million college degree and certificate holders needed to fuel its workforce”. California’s community colleges educate 70
percent of our states nurses, and train
80 percent of our states fire fighters, law enforcement, and medical
technicians. But if you, like me, a student at a community college looking to
transfer, you have nothing but more tuition costs to look forward to. Without
proposition 30, students will be turned from the degree they want because of
costs, which effects all of our future’s as California residents.
With students
turning away from higher education, degrees and certificates in training, what
will our future hold? As a 20 year old student, am I looking towards working
more hours for lower wages? Our perception of the “American dream” stays the
same with our reality contradicting it. America being an immigrant nation, my
own parents came to California from Mexico with hopes for me and my siblings.
Raised in a catholic home, attending private all girl catholic schools, I
always understood the importance of education. I try to never take the
opportunities in front of me for granted, but will mine and my parents plan of
a degree, which I’ve had since grade school be diminished if my parents can’t afford
to send me to the school of my choice. I’m sure there are a lot of families
like mine in California that fall into a middle class range, who don’t qualify
for state funded financial aid but are expected to pay the tens of thousands of
dollars in university tuition. Its families like these that have the hardest
time. We’ve all been taught to work hard and get what you deserve; well our
current state budget contradicts that. I don’t think we should work hard our
entire educational careers to pay more.
With our state
schools feeling the budget cuts more than ever, we need a change this year.
Proposition 30 seems like mercy to our already larger class sizes and smaller
faculty numbers. With a promise to aid 6 billion dollars to our state schools
and other public safety services, Proposition 30 becomes the lesser of two
evils by only raising income tax on those who individually earn more than
250,000 dollars a year and increasing sales tax by only .25%. No other solution
to our budget crisis, produces as much revenue with such little tax hike.
Proposition 30 benefits all communities with guaranteed funding for public
safety, and the future of our state with more education available and more
students able to attend higher education. Perhaps you should vote yes on
Proposition 30 because you, yourself are not in the top 3% of California
earners, or maybe vote yes because you believe everyone deserves the
opportunity to fulfill their dreams.
Bibiography
Yes on Prop 30.
2012. Yes 30 Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act. 1 Oct. 2012 < http://www.yesonprop30.com/>.
Stop
Proposition 30 – The$ 50 Billion Tax Hike. 2012. No on 30. 1 Oct. 2012 <
http://www.stopprop30.com/>.
Impact of
Budget Cuts on the California Community Colleges & Value of the System to
California. 2012. California Community Colleges Offices. 1 Oct. 2012 < http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/PolicyInAction/KeyFacts.aspx>.
Bradley, William.
"Jerry Brown: Gearing Up a Campaign at Last?" The Huffington Post.
thehuffingtonpost.com, 22 Sept. 2012. Web. 24 Sept. 2012.
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