League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Ventura County, CA November 6, 2012 Election
	Measure Q Education Funding Ventura Unified School District Parcel Tax - 2/3 Approval Required Pass: 34927 / 68.55% Yes votes ...... 16023 / 31.45% No votes See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure Q

Arguments Against Measure Q

ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF MEASURE Q VENTURA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Our local public schools are our community's most important asset and have always been our number one priority. From higher achieving students to greater community safety to improved housing values, quality schools make a difference. Today, without your help, this valuable community resource faces serious financial cutbacks and many essential academic programs are at risk of being eliminated. Measure Q will provide Ventura's schools with a guaranteed source of critical local funding for academic programs that, by law, must be spent on our local schools and CANNOT BE TAKEN BY THE STATE and spent elsewhere. Measure Q will improve Ventura's schools in many ways including: Maintaining and protecting academic programs including science, technology, reading, writing, and math. Maintaining and protecting school art and music programs. Helping to prevent further increases in class sizes. Increasing student access to technology and computers in the classroom. Recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers. Purchasing up-to-date student textbooks and workbooks. In addition, Measure Q comes with strong TAXPAYER PROTECTIONS including: Iron-clad restrictions that no funds can be used for administrator salaries, benefits or pensions. Annual review by an independent citizens' oversight committee of all expenditures. Legally required annual audits of all spending. Legal guarantees that all funds be spent locally and cannot be taken by the State and used elsewhere. Quality schools improve housing values and make for a strong community. Measure Q will allow our community to take the first step towards creating a local source of funding that cannot be taken by the State. It will allow us to create a local solution to maintaining and protecting the quality of education in our schools. Please join us in voting YES on Measure Q for QUALITY Schools!

ARGUMENT AGAINST MEASURE Q VENTURA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT In 2010, a parcel tax was attempted and failed. It was recommended VUSD address paying 100% medical benefits for employees and run a campaign to raise $100 from all yes voters. None of this happened. Instead, the VUSD prefers to tax everyone and not address their budgetary issues first. VUSD prefers to exploit school children to campaign for more funds with an unfair and inequitable tax on property owners. This parcel tax taxes property owners, whether personal, business or commercial and excludes renters. Properties owners with leases are not able to recover their cost of this tax by increasing rents. This is a tax to replace State revenues so the schools may continue to pay 100% of their employee's health benefits. The VUSD continues to eliminate teachers and programs before reducing administrative staff. Classrooms first, not benefits. Ventura Unified pays 100% of employee's health benefits, a cost that is projected to continue to increase. Regardless of how the tax is spent, fewer funds will get into a classroom and more will be paid in benefits. This tax will become permanent. In 3-4 years, the next campaign will be to renew the tax to avoid layoffs or reduced classes. The total property taxes paid to the School District continue to increase each year so don't believe claims to the contrary. Once the tax is passed, an independent citizens oversee committee will be powerless to reverse it regardless of their findings. This new tax comes at a time when Federal and State taxes are also increasing in 2013. It is not simple enough to say we need the money. We all need more money. The citizens should not have to pay for more administration, 100% of health benefits and less in the classroom. CLASSROOMS FIRST, VOTE NO on THIS MEASURE.