Schools Taxes

Voters will decide today whether to approve a $1.4-million tax levy for the Westminster School District, a proposal which officials say is critical to maintaining quality education for the district's 7,500 students. At stake, according to district officials, school board members and the teachers' association, which has endorsed Measure A, is whether the district can withstand further budget cuts without undermining student opportunities for a decent education.

Unwelcome message Re "Calderon urges assault rifle ban," May 21 I never would have believed it: The president of Mexico, standing on our congressional floor, impugning our immigration laws and policies. This from a president whose country has a far more draconian immigration policy than ours. This from the leader of country whose caste system drives its poor to our nation, so its can use us as its welfare system. All this, in front of Obama administration officials, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a Democrat legislature that gave Calderon a standing ovation.

A two-thirds vote on property tax increases is the only safeguard homeowners have against the ever-present and always greedy political forces that would drive those taxes to levels unreachable by most residents. Since roughly a third of the people living in California are actually living in homes they own, it seems reasonable that they have a voting voice equal to the two-thirds of non-taxpaying residents who find it quite easy to vote for property increases, especially for "good" causes.

Good morning. May I have your attention? Go ahead, enjoy your caramel macchiato while we chat, or is it an iced cinnamon dolce latte? I'm not going to kid you, folks. As my colleagues on the editorial board pointed out last week, there are lots of good reasons to vote against Measure E on the June ballot, the temporary $100 annual parcel tax that would raise $92.5 million a year during each of the four years it would be in effect for Los Angeles Unified schools. For starters, times are tough, and people don't want to dig into their pockets right now, especially since there's no citizen oversight written into the measure.

They've grown accustomed to their tax. Three years ago, Torrance homeowners were up in arms over a $25-a-year tax increase to maintain school property. This week, without so much as a peep from residents, the Torrance Unified School District voted unanimously to extend the maintenance assessment district for one more year.

Good morning. May I have your attention? Go ahead, enjoy your caramel macchiato while we chat, or is it an iced cinnamon dolce latte? I'm not going to kid you, folks. As my colleagues on the editorial board pointed out last week, there are lots of good reasons to vote against Measure E on the June ballot, the temporary $100 annual parcel tax that would raise $92.5 million a year during each of the four years it would be in effect for Los Angeles Unified schools. For starters, times are tough, and people don't want to dig into their pockets right now, especially since there's no citizen oversight written into the measure.

Voters will soon be approached by petition gatherers promising better schools or "free" preschools or better teachers, or all of the above. As in the cases of most petition slogans, the problems are in what they don't tell you. The California Teachers Assn. and its partner, director/activist Rob Reiner, have written a flawed ballot initiative called the Improving Classroom Education Act that -- despite nobly stated goals -- would raise business property taxes by $4.

San Diego voters will be asked in June to approve higher property taxes for school construction and renovation in the San Diego Unified School District, and the ballot measure will list each school targeted for assistance so that residents within district boundaries will know where their extra taxes will go. The school board approved the ballot plan Tuesday that could raise as much as $25 million annually through the year 2003.

In the latest chapter of a continuing dispute, the Assembly Ways and Means Committee on Monday unanimously approved a compromise to establish a way for five Santa Clarita Valley school districts to collect a tax on new homes. The tax was approved by voters in June to raise money for school construction. Despite the approval, however, no legal mechanism existed to collect the money. The bill to provide that mechanism, by Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia), now goes to the Assembly floor.

Re the Capistrano Unified School District and Measure A ("Bonus Pay for Principals to Get Tax Hike Alleged," Aug. 25): Teachers worked hard on their own time to write letters supporting Proposition 98, which attempted to secure funds for all levels of education in California, and did not expect, nor were they offered, bonuses from their school board. How many citizens will feel good about sending their children to a school where administrators receive illegal bonuses, while top-paid teachers make $20,000 less?

They seem remarkably similar at first, the two cases involving leaders of publicly funded educational organizations in California who, within the same week, were reported to have racked up tens of thousands of dollars in inappropriate expenses over three years. Founder Steve Barr repaid close to $51,000 to Green Dot Public Schools after an internal review initiated by the charter operator found that he had been reimbursed for inappropriate expenses and lacked the required receipts for others.

School trustees voted Monday to place a parcel tax on the November ballot. The measure, if approved by a two-thirds majority, would raise $11.5 million annually for five years with the goal of offsetting reduced state funding for schools. Individual property owners within Long Beach Unified would pay $92 per parcel. Voters in the state's third-largest school system have previously approved two local school construction bonds that remain on the tax rolls. Money from the two construction bonds cannot be used to pay for ongoing operations, unlike the parcel tax. The sales pitch to voters will include the district's being recognized as one of the more successful urban school systems.

A profound shift away from California's more transient and migrant-dependent past will soon produce the state's first generation of adults whose majority will be native-born, researchers at USC said in a study released Monday. More than 70% of Californians ages 15 to 24 were born and raised in the state, according to the report, "The New Homegrown Majority in California." By contrast, nearly two-thirds of state residents 45 to 54 years old were born out of state.

Stepping up his campaign against the governor's proposal for education spending in the coming budget year, California's elected schools chief called for higher taxes Monday as the best means to "stop starving our schools." Supt.

Responding to California's fiscal crisis, the Las Virgenes Unified School District has placed an $8-million tax measure on Tuesday's ballot to preserve current class sizes, electives and staff in the district's 13 schools. Under Measure E, all parcels would be levied $98 annually for four years, raising about $1.9 million a year for the district that serves Calabasas, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village.

Voters will soon be approached by petition gatherers promising better schools or "free" preschools or better teachers, or all of the above. As in the cases of most petition slogans, the problems are in what they don't tell you. The California Teachers Assn. and its partner, director/activist Rob Reiner, have written a flawed ballot initiative called the Improving Classroom Education Act that -- despite nobly stated goals -- would raise business property taxes by $4.

I am disturbed by the partially informed, short-sighted, and narrow-minded letter to the editor from Diane Venable regarding the merits of a proposed parcel tax for the residents of the Las Virgenes Unified School District. She is mixing apples with doughnuts, displaying absolutely no regard for discrepancies in the nutritional value between the two. Certain statements are true. As dictated by Gov. Pete Wilson, the Las Virgenes School District was forced to cut $1.16 million from its program budget for the coming school year.

Property owners will get a chance Monday to question school board members about their plans to assess a tax on local property to maintain school grounds and buildings used by the public. At the public meeting, school officials will explain their plan for a "recreation assessment district" that would collect taxes throughout the school district.

Educators and parents hoping parcel taxes would help school districts through the current budget crunch found a sobering mixture of results in Tuesday's election returns in Los Angeles County and elsewhere in California. Locally, voters resoundingly approved a parcel tax for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District but defeated a similar measure in Manhattan Beach.

Bids for extra taxes for well-regarded but cash-strapped schools succeeded in Palos Verdes on Tuesday but failed in Manhattan Beach, while in Santa Monica and Malibu, results on a similar measure were too close to call. In another election, which pitted neighbor against neighbor, voters strongly rejected a drive to incorporate the east San Gabriel Valley community of Hacienda Heights.