Dear Coronado Voters:
Please beware of the efforts of the opponents of Prop E to confuse the debate with yet further streams of misinformation. The most recent assertion from opponents is that the Governor’s May revised budget for fiscal year 14-15, eliminates the need for Prop E because it will provide $10 billion worth of additional funds to schools. Nonsense!
There are many falsehoods in this allegation. First, the “$10 billion” is not new money that the Governor proposes to allocate to education. The Governor already proposed to provide these funds to California K-12 schools in his budget announcement way back in January. The school board took this into account when it calculated our funding shortfall and then carefully drafted the terms of Prop E. Actually, the Governor estimated that the State’s total tax revenues for the year will be $2.4 billion higher than he had projected in January. NOT $10 billion! The fact that the opponents are claiming schools will get $10 billion of additional funds relative to January demonstrates how confused they are in their understanding of the facts. Don’t be swayed by their numbers!
Second, unfortunately from the perspective of school funding, the Governor has proposed to dedicate the bulk of the $2.4 billion to the (1) unfunded deficit in the State’s retirement pension plans; and (2) greater financial obligations faced by the State due to the adoption of national healthcare. The revised budget proposal DOES NOT provide significant additional revenues to Coronado schools.
Third, the Governor’s May announcement also includes proposals that would continue to hurt us financially. The Governor proposed that local districts be required to contribute a greater percentage of their total payroll to the State’s teacher retirement pension plan. This would worsen the future structural deficits faced by our district, which highlights the importance even more of passing Prop E.
Finally, the opponents gloss over the fact that the Governor’s revised budget proposal is still just that- a proposal. The proposal still must be negotiated with the State Senate and the State Assembly, and both have proven at times to have difficulty working with the Governor. In fact, in less than 40% of the fiscal years since 1990 have the Legislature and the Governor successfully worked together to pass and sign a budget before the start of the applicable fiscal year.
The opponents’ claims with respect to the Governor’s budget seem consistent with the strategy that they have employed throughout this campaign- throwing up allegations with reckless disregard for the truth and with a goal of influencing Coronado voters. The opponents shy away from true discussion of their accusations, frequently barring comment on blogs or websites which they post to make these allegations. They have refused to participate in public debates on Prop E, which each of the Optimists Club, the Rotary Club and the Republican Women’s Club tried to organize, only to fail due to the refusal of the No on E folks to participate. Their lack of respect and inconsiderate behavior is why I have decided not to allow comments on this post.
So when you hear the next allegation from the opponents that sounds too concocted to be true, please think twice- it probably isn’t true! For accurate information on Prop E, I encourage you to visit www.protectourcoronadoschools.com. The FAQ link on that website provides information on many of the issues that opposition individuals periodically have raised during the course of this campaign. You can find even more information on www.coronadousd.net/bond or www.coronadousd.net/budget. Thank you for your continued support.
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