Tapped, schools turn to parents

The proposal, which would expire in four years if approved, would create a $120 annual levy on residential properties and would charge businesses $120 to $9,500, depending on size.

Trash can campaign

To raise awareness, a parent who runs an ad agency created the "Step Up" campaign.

Students, teachers and coaches have perched inside trash cans around Alameda, with signs reading "Our students / teachers / coaches are too valuable to throw away." Similar mottoes were placed on city garbage trucks, trash bins and T-shirts.

When Schwarzenegger attended a conference Wednesday at the Hornet, an aircraft carrier now docked in Alameda as a museum, 200 parents, students and teachers protested.

"There's nothing like showing up when the governor's there and sticking real kids and real teachers in trash cans," said Brooke Briggance of the Alameda Education Foundation, "and saying, 'You know what? This is what you're doing.' "

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seema.mehta@latimes.com