Prop 30 or Temporary Taxes to Fund Education - Research Paper Example

Assignment Prop 30 Introduction Prop 30 is the common abbreviated form of Proposition 30. The official name of Proposition 30 is Temporary Taxes to Fund Education. It is a variety of plebiscite-based voting measures to be accomplished by the means of ballot. The initiative has been taken in the American state of California, which is known for its IT industries and harbors the famous Silicon Valley of America. The key issue that was to be addressed along with the presidential elections in 2012 was Prop 20 in the context of the California area. In November 2012, elections were conducted all over California in order to evaluate whether people were ready to increase the tax rates so that budget cuts could be prevented in the educational sector. According to the website of California Secretary of State, 54% of the voters favored taxes to be increased to finance education system. On the other hand, almost 46% of the total vote’s caste was in opposition to this initiative. Contextually, it should be mentioned that Jerry Brown, the governor of California had given full support to Prop 30. On the other hand, small businessmen and entrepreneurs opposed this proposition. They said that increasing the taxes would affect the businesses in the state adversely. Hence, that would be compensated by job cuts and shut down of smaller firms. Thesis Prop 30 is based on an utmost democratic approach that not only supports the freedom of expression but also takes on a combinatory political approach that ventures to adjudge popular mentality on the mandate of free education. Particularly after the Civil War and abolition of slavery, equality has been a key area of both debate and pursuit in the American society, where social stratifications are supposed to be aligned to the merit based parameters. But what if education becomes costly? What if the economically backward children are left behind and the public schools raise their fees? Nevertheless, a just education system should be accessible to the economically backward people too. Hence, if it be necessary to increase taxes on the general public so that the schools can be financed better and broader educational outreach is harnessed, people must take a positive approach. California indeed needs educational reforms and the majority of Californians wish to see reforms. In this way, Temporary Taxes to Fund Education should be supported to provide more wealth to the educational establishments. By the means of public funding, governments can really open up the doors of welfare economy to fulfill the popular aspirations. In the first go, this all may seem to be politically biased populist measures. But if we think a little deeper then we can accept that Californian education system has some real problems which should be solved with real solutions. Hence, Prop 30 was a move that deserved popular support. Discussion Educational disparities raise serious questions on the credibility of American Dream. “California leads the United States in the total number of African Americans enrolled in higher education, although the proportion of African American students enrolled in higher education continues to decline. Close to 76% of all African Americans in public elementary school graduate from high school, but only 13% go on to graduate from institutions in the California state higher education systems.” (Allen, Bonous-Hammarth, and Teranishi, 1-2) Higher education prospects in California appear to be parallel to a racially biased apartheid system. It reflects a sort of extreme socioeconomic disparity. An outstanding and reachable public higher education system augmented California’s economic development. But today, the lack of an equal opportunity based educational paradigm is playing a significant role to undermine the future prospects of the African American population. Therefore, educational reforms must be initiated to help California maintain its justifiable vibrancies and democratic institutions. Nevertheless, certain states in USA are attempting to improve the educational system in their respective areas of administration and legislature. In the year 2013, there are chances that a critical shift in the educational system of California be initiated with the help of popular support. This shift in policy framework initiated within a short time span might be developed into a national example of constructive educational policy change. By the end of the year 2012, Californian voters gave their final nod to Prop 20. According to Mosbacher (1), who is a research analyst from the organization California Common Sense, Prop 30 is a “five-year, $6 billion annual tax increase largely sold on the premise that the new revenues would go to education.” Voters are now being informed that for the period of next 30 years, the state of California will probably call for a supernumerary $4.5 billion on a yearly basis to cover the unfunded legal responsibility of California’s teacher pension fund abbreviated as the CalSTRS. There are both bad and good sides of this fiscal challenge. The bad side is that the financial responsibilities are gradually increasing for a very long period of time over 30 years. In the case another economic recession hits the state in this long run; the fiscal liabilities as determined now may not remain stable but get abruptly inflated. In such a state of affair, the state authorities may be compelled to impose more taxes to handle the increased overhead of providing pensions and facilities like dearness allowances. The nature of California’s taxation system, as Mosbacher (2) notes, is based on a market oriented financial management scheme. California’s General Fund and revenue systems are highly reliant on the performance of the state’s stock reserves and other kinds of money market instruments. So if these elements of the state’s financial and market system malfunction or perform poorly, the entire education system and pension funds framework might be affected. However, the good side of this issue is that the Californians are exposing themselves toward the risk of a long term fiscal imbursement challenge. This challenge of providing pension funds has implications beyond the field of school education. If things are handled successfully as such, California can become an example of state level success in implementing a dependable and democratically ratified pension funds policy that can be applied to the employees of other industrial and social sectors too. (Mosbacher) Further in this context, the California Governor J. Brown has proffered a number of reforms in his planned budgetary arrangements. Browns budgetary program is aimed at allocating larger share of funds to the low income group schools in the state. If funding is done selectively on the basis of income disparities among the different schools in the region, a development program based on mutualism and equity can be embarked on. These efforts can reshape the very way of income and expenditure of the California schools. Moreover, pupils of the African American descent can be especially helped because most of the low income group schools are those where the number of students from the African American community is relatively higher. (Mosbacher) Another reason of backing Prop 30 is that California is loosing out in international competition since the state remains exposed to the global market economy. In fact, researchers like Perrucci and Wysong have put forward that the American middle class population is rapidly declining and families in the middle income groups have made an economical shift towards deteriorating life standards. The concepts such as “free trade” and “global economy” appear to have affected the public educational system adversely (Perrucci and Wysong 128). In such a state of affair, Arnold puts forward the following idea: “While the current economic recession has had a very significant impact upon the state and local governments’ ability to meet their obligations to society and particularly their constitutionally mandated obligations to public education, the state’s budget and particularly revenue, difficulties have been chronic for a long time.” (2) So, in order to ensure greater stability in the country and guide the young people effectively, it is necessary that we do not compromise with the future of our children. All along with the educational sector and program enhancements, the young people need proper guidance. And who would provide this guidance with? Only the skilled teachers can bring up the child in a way that they are not broken down. Therefore, teacher development is as critical as the child’s development. The teachers must be made aware that the significant local variations should be made and the child is not taught to do anyone’s harm. Teachers are the soldiers in accomplishing the task of providing free but quality education to everybody. Hence, “teacher workforce issues” (Little and Bartlett, 285) must also be solved by raising taxes. As far as the precise purpose of Prop 30 has been discussed, it can be stated that it is an explicitly educational initiative which is aimed to solve certain monetary problems of the Californian educational system. Expanding on the provisions of Prop 30, it can also be said that the initiative can help in solving various issues that underlie not only the educational but also the economical system of California. For example, Prop 30 has been designed to solve long term pension issues of the teachers and improve funding policy of the public schools. Yet, experts like Gordon have noted certain policy level influences too that can be bolstered by the means of legislative initiatives such as Prop 30. Gordon (18-19) states that the relations between the federal government and the state governments have ample scope for and necessity of improvements and redefinitions. She has also stated that the relationship between the state and the Federation must not be egoistic or completely guided by administrative authority. Rather, the member state and the federation as a whole can enter in a learning and growing relationship. In addressing budgetary constraints and controversy, such a symbiotic relationship between the state government and the federal government must be appreciated in order to avoid any potential “political stalemates over the federal budget” (Gordon, 3). Unlike Mosbacher, Gordon has not explicitly mentioned Prop 30 in developing her thesis. Yet, the role of K-12 education policies and debates cannot be neglected in solving key budgetary issues. Federal level policymakers of the United States have long scrutinized policy frameworks erected by states as resources that can help in bringing about innovation in key policy areas “ranging from K–12 education to health care and welfare reform” (Gordon, 3). Furthermore, they have borrowed several ideas from state and local fiscal institutions, including those of instituting an executive budget. More lately, proponents of a federal level balanced budget adjustment to the U.S. Constitution have called upon the states as to provide where else such adjustments have worked at the regional level (Gordon). If Prop 30 emerges to be a sustainable success in eliminating discrimination in the sphere of Californian educational reforms, it can too serve as a reliable example of plebiscite based budgetary adjustments that can be federally formalized by the means of constitutional amendments if necessary. Conclusion Failure in implementing Prop 30 would make the state not capable of funding its constitutionally mandated functions. The proposal of raising the taxes does not mend the general and structural issues with America’s politic. Still, the available public services are generally provided by public servants. The government must be given a chance to create opportunity and bring about more secure investment policies. Enhancing the educational system of the state will ultimately culminate at economic growth. Research experts like Allen, Bonous-Hammarth, and Teranishi have already attempted to draw attention of the American academic world to look into the educational opportunities that an African American youth lacks in California on average. And the problem does not end at that point. Increments in expenditure for the complex educational needs to abolish discrimination have to be achieved in combination with a pragmatic plan to fulfill the long term salary and pension needs of the teachers. Indeed, Prop 30 has to solve some very fundamental and key issues in American educational system. The popular support this proposed legislation has received is an optimistic signal to those who wish to cultivate equal opportunity for all and fulfill the great American Dream. Works Cited Arnold, Kenneth, K. California November 2012 Ballot Initiatives. Folsom: FDC, 2012. Print. California Secretary of State. "Proposition 30 - Temporary Taxes to Fund Education: General Election. California Secretary of State." California General Election | California Secretary of State. 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. . Gordon, Tracy M. What States Can, and Can’t, Teach the Federal Government about Budgets? Brookings Institution: Budgeting for National Priorities at Brookings, 2012. Print. Little, Judith Warren, and Lora Bartlett. "The teacher workforce and problems of educational equity." Review of Research in Education 34 (2010): 285-328. Print. Mosbacher, Jack. Demystifying Education Finance in California. Los Altos: California Common Sense, 2013. Print. Perrucci, Robert, and Earl Wysong. The New Class Society: Goodbye American Dream? 3rd ed. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Print. Read More