Don't blame Proposition 13

Tim is RIGHT ON THE MONEY.
Tom McClintock has repeatedly defined California's fiscal crisis as a "spending problem, not a revenue problem."
What part of that FACT doesn't the Statist LEFT (like Doug Ford) understand??!!!
No nation has ever taxed itself into prosperity.
If the loony left weren't so dangerous to our survival, they would be silly and funny.

Well said Mr. Bittle.

Thank you Mr. Bittle for your contributions to protect the California Taxpayers.

It has been said that while state income taxes and sales taxes are subject to swings of boom-bust in the economy, under Prop. 13, California property tax revenues have grown steadily and have become the state's most reliable revenue source.

Prop. 13 has created not only certainty for property owners, but certainty for governments, too.

WE, THE PEOPLE, will not allow the out of control legislators to mess with Prop 13.

Quote:
"The date Proposition 13 took effect until now, property tax revenue has increased 580 percent. You read that correctly: 580 percent. During that same time, California's population went from about 24 million to 38 million, an increase of only 58 percent. In other words, government revenue under Proposition 13 has grown 10 times the rate of population growth."

My, my the truth comes out...

The State running out of money ???? Not by a long shot. Too may handouts, too many givesways, etc, etc, etc ...

Timothy A. Bittle hits the nail on the head with his article. Its to bad the dum-dums that attack Prop 13 are completely clueless to reality.

Leave Prop 13 alone, CUT YOUR SPENDING !!!!!!!

P.S If I ran my house like the lawmakers ran the State I'd be out on the street or bankrupt in no time ...

Obviously, you don't work in the educational system. In California, we had a funny notion where the funding should be equal in all schools. Children that lived in a wealthy neighborhood should not receive a better education because of which neighborhood they lived in. A decision was made that funding would be done on a per pupil basis to promote equity across the state. Prop 13 was the response. It was also heavily funded by large companies to trick people into thinking they were protecting seniors. It was lobbying by the corporations to get huge tax breaks. It is the children who are suffering the consequences.
People that have a very nice house already don't need to move. So, if you are rich, you don't move and your taxes don't change. Also, giant companies that never move are paying nearly the same as they were in 1978. That is nuts. On the other hand, if you are an average person, you move every 7 years and you are the one paying the majority of the taxes. If you are in your 20's and buying your first house you also are footing the bill.
The state is cutting educatiion by 12 billion dollars. Vacaville alone cut 12.3 million. Classes are overcrowded. Computers are old and don't work. Teachers are overworked and underpaid. Students do not have the enrichment opportunities (like social studies and science, not to mention art and music) that every child deserves. Our responsibilities as part of a community is to educate our children, giving them all the opportunities that they deserve.
All of us need to pay more taxes so that the children can get the education that they deserve whether they are in a good neighborhood or not. The educational system in California needs more money and we should all foot the bill for that, it is a most worthy cause.

What a crock! Just what I would expect from a California union teacher. We have some of the highest paid teachers in the world. We spend more than enough money on the schools but what they produce is one of the poorest educations in the US. I have my fifth and sixth grade class pictures in front of me. I see 30 kids and one teacher and a principal. No aides, no extra bodies and we never were a discipline problem. We are overrun with students who are here illegally and do not speak english. We are wasting vast amounts of our precious resources trying to educate these illegals. I don't need to pay more taxes for the bloated beauracracy that is the education system in California. We have three separate layers of very high paid people looking over each others shoulders,(state board of education, county boards, district boards) where only one should be necessary. Geez, the local idiots have a supervisor of student housing....for the K-12 district. Don't the kids live at home? Do we really need this six figure salary? When 100% of the students graduating can pass the eight grade level test in math and english I will concede that maybe the system is working. That level of success is far from what we have now. We overpay for a very poor product. Year round school should be the norm since they don't seem to be able to teach much in the nine month system we use now.

Dear Dark Vision,
Ignorance certainly is bliss to you isn't it? While those in charge of the Californian education system certainly are well-payed, teachers are NOT. Growing up as a teacher's daughter, I would know. I'm guessing you are one of those people who likes to talk very harshly about things they know NOTHING of. And, really? Bringing illegals into this was ridiculous. Saying that we are wasting precious time and money on these kids is foolish. There are children here LEGALLY that cannot speak English. But as we're talking about cutting things for our children, we might as well cut the special ed programs,speech programs,etc. Does this sound reasonable to you? I should hope not. Ignorance and bigotry are certainly your forte, aren't they?

BS ! Pay surveys refute what you say. California teachers are among the highest paid in the country. That certainly puts them among the highest in the world. I bought in the illegals because they are a major drain on the funding you seem to find lacking. Where are the crappiest schools? Where the highest concentrations of illegals are found. I am not a bigot just because I believe my country should, like any other, defend its borders and deport people who are here illegally. I am not ignorant, I am college educated (and understand irregular verbs).
The dropout rate, which the school districts try to minimize, is between 20% to 40% in most metropolitan areas. Why? Minorities who do not value education, even a free one. The schools system is a mess and I see no way to improve it. I will not be willing to give good money after bad to a system so corrupt and failing.

Macy wrote:

Dear Dark Vision,
Ignorance certainly is bliss to you isn't it? While those in charge of the Californian education system certainly are well-payed, teachers are NOT. Growing up as a teacher's daughter, I would know. I'm guessing you are one of those people who likes to talk very harshly about things they know NOTHING of. And, really? Bringing illegals into this was ridiculous. Saying that we are wasting precious time and money on these kids is foolish. There are children here LEGALLY that cannot speak English. But as we're talking about cutting things for our children, we might as well cut the special ed programs,speech programs,etc. Does this sound reasonable to you? I should hope not. Ignorance and bigotry are certainly your forte, aren't they?

Starting pay for teachers in Calif. is 35K per year and great benefits. Since you only work 180 days per year, that comes to almost 200 dollars per day plus benefits, sick days, every holiday known to man, and the whole summer off. Not bad for a kid fresh out of college. Average income in Calif. for 2008 was 48K.
Long time teachers make much, much more. The senior union teachers have been screwing the young teachers for years. Take it up with them, and quit whining.

Julie Timmerman wrote:

Obviously, you don't work in the educational system. In California, we had a funny notion where the funding should be equal in all schools. Children that lived in a wealthy neighborhood should not receive a better education because of which neighborhood they lived in. A decision was made that funding would be done on a per pupil basis to promote equity across the state. Prop 13 was the response. It was also heavily funded by large companies to trick people into thinking they were protecting seniors. It was lobbying by the corporations to get huge tax breaks. It is the children who are suffering the consequences.
People that have a very nice house already don't need to move. So, if you are rich, you don't move and your taxes don't change. Also, giant companies that never move are paying nearly the same as they were in 1978. That is nuts. On the other hand, if you are an average person, you move every 7 years and you are the one paying the majority of the taxes. If you are in your 20's and buying your first house you also are footing the bill.
The state is cutting educatiion by 12 billion dollars. Vacaville alone cut 12.3 million. Classes are overcrowded. Computers are old and don't work. Teachers are overworked and underpaid. Students do not have the enrichment opportunities (like social studies and science, not to mention art and music) that every child deserves. Our responsibilities as part of a community is to educate our children, giving them all the opportunities that they deserve.
All of us need to pay more taxes so that the children can get the education that they deserve whether they are in a good neighborhood or not. The educational system in California needs more money and we should all foot the bill for that, it is a most worthy cause.

More money for education (the kids), has become synonymous for teacher Want more money. Most school district devote 85-90% of their funding to wages, salaries and very generous benefits/pensions.
You only work 180 days per year, quit whining.

Do you actually think 180 days a year is what teachers acutally put in? No. It's days on the weekends, working 14 hour days, and working summer school.(How else do you think they get through the summer?)Being on committees,going to board meetings,tutoring kids after school, constantly putting in extra time to help my generation. Your future. So stop telling teachers to "stop whining".Besides, TEACHERS AREN'T ASKING FOR PAY RAISES! For all of you that are saying to cut education budgets, how do you expect to get your kids to school without busses? How do you expect your kids to have any extracurricular activities when schools can no longer afford the time or money to help support art and music? I'd like to see you do all the things teachers do.

I am not asking for more money. The teacher's union is not asking for more money for at least the next two years.
I would like the students to be able to ride the bus to school if they need to. I would like them to continue to have P.E. and music. I would like them to continue to have a reasonable amount of students in the classroom so they will still enjoy learning.
While I appreciate all this racist name calling and blaming, it is not very useful. How many of you have gone to a school board meeting since you know so much about how the schools should be run?

If you are not asking for more money, then I will ask you to give some up. When was the last time your phony negotiations ever came up with union concessions. Never, and you know it. Educational
union negotiations have become nothing more than a game of how much the unions can get from the schools budgets. Did you get a raise this year?
COLA, or step and column?
When you give up some to keep your peers working and keep the busses running I will not call you friggen whiners. Until then, try to sell your crap to someone else, I am not buying any of it.

Folks, if you want to improve public education, support school vouchers. Competition for our tax dollars will break up the corrupt monopoly that rule our childrens education.
Otherwise, nothing will change, including the 25% statewide dropout rate.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
A. Einstein

I agree---Prop 13 is the only thing that stands between us and a depraved mob of socialists who are hell bent to tax and spend us into oblivion.

Get the unions out of government, get school choice and vouchers back in, tell public servants that if they don't like the pay and benefits to go elsewhere! I'm sick of their sense of entitlement. And get the freeloading, mooching, parasitic illegal alien invaders the hell out of here...NOW!

Julie is complaining that the rich and corportations should pay more and to that I say "they've paid more then then the illegal alien parasites and they should not be taxed so Pedro the freeloader and his tribe from Guadalajara can skate on taxes and the laws." Enough!

another union teacher wrote:

I am not asking for more money. The teacher's union is not asking for more money for at least the next two years.
I would like the students to be able to ride the bus to school if they need to. I would like them to continue to have P.E. and music. I would like them to continue to have a reasonable amount of students in the classroom so they will still enjoy learning.
While I appreciate all this racist name calling and blaming, it is not very useful. How many of you have gone to a school board meeting since you know so much about how the schools should be run?

How awful nice of you to not ask for more money, and Gee for two years. Sounds like the union has it all broke down and figured out to the penny.
Guess what, the state is broke. And the vast majority of state funding goes to public employee unions, and the teachers union is on top of the heap.
So do not be disingenouous. You folks have broke the bank. At least be honest enough to not deflect responsibility.

Macy wrote:

Dear Dark Vision,
Ignorance certainly is bliss to you isn't it? While those in charge of the Californian education system certainly are well-payed, teachers are NOT. Growing up as a teacher's daughter, I would know. I'm guessing you are one of those people who likes to talk very harshly about things they know NOTHING of. And, really? Bringing illegals into this was ridiculous. Saying that we are wasting precious time and money on these kids is foolish. There are children here LEGALLY that cannot speak English. But as we're talking about cutting things for our children, we might as well cut the special ed programs,speech programs,etc. Does this sound reasonable to you? I should hope not. Ignorance and bigotry are certainly your forte, aren't they?

Macy,
Your tired, over-used PC words and phrases do nothing more than make you feel good about yourself. The bad part is, they ignore common sense.
Controlling our borders and looking at the costs of educating, medicating and incarcerating illegal aliens has nothing to do with bigotry - it's common sense. But I recognize that a total lack of common sense is the hallmark of today's 'progressive.'
I am greatful for dedicated teachers. I am also aware that no one forced them into the profession and that they were well aware of the pay and benefits, going in.
Fully half of our entire state budget is spent on education!
If the billions aren't getting to those in most desparate need, perhaps you should work on reforming how the money is spent, rather than trying to plug a leak by fleecing more taxpayers.
But I realize, that's more common sense talk...sorry to be so confusing.

Huh wrote:

<quoted text>
How awful nice of you to not ask for more money, and Gee for two years. Sounds like the union has it all broke down and figured out to the penny.
Guess what, the state is broke. And the vast majority of state funding goes to public employee unions, and the teachers union is on top of the heap.
So do not be disingenouous. You folks have broke the bank. At least be honest enough to not deflect responsibility.

Although the schools have the biggest slice of the tax pie it is another state employee union that has taken the biggest bites. The correctional officers and highway patrol make far more per employee. Our cost of keeping prisoners is more than double the national average. We should tear down most of the prisons, fire the guards and simply give offenders a $30,000 a year stipend. The male offenders could team up with a female offender and between make a cool $60,000 a year to buy drugs and rent a hovel to live in. For the violent keep a couple of the real prisons and staff with what is left of the guards.

another union teacher wrote:

I am not asking for more money. The teacher's union is not asking for more money for at least the next two years.
I would like the students to be able to ride the bus to school if they need to. I would like them to continue to have P.E. and music. I would like them to continue to have a reasonable amount of students in the classroom so they will still enjoy learning.
While I appreciate all this racist name calling and blaming, it is not very useful. How many of you have gone to a school board meeting since you know so much about how the schools should be run?

I am involved very deeply, and I attend every school board meeting. It is almost impossible to remove a bad educator due to the vast protections afforded them by current law. So, mixed in with the wonderful caring teachers, are some folks who would be well advised to find another profession.
In my opinion the weakest links in the chain of educators diminish all of those who are dedicated to the children.
The union protections have caused this situation to exist, and you good teachers should address that problem.

Julie Timmerman wrote:

Obviously, you don't work in the educational system. In California, we had a funny notion where the funding should be equal in all schools. Children that lived in a wealthy neighborhood should not receive a better education because of which neighborhood they lived in. A decision was made that funding would be done on a per pupil basis to promote equity across the state. Prop 13 was the response. It was also heavily funded by large companies to trick people into thinking they were protecting seniors. It was lobbying by the corporations to get huge tax breaks. It is the children who are suffering the consequences.
People that have a very nice house already don't need to move. So, if you are rich, you don't move and your taxes don't change. Also, giant companies that never move are paying nearly the same as they were in 1978. That is nuts. On the other hand, if you are an average person, you move every 7 years and you are the one paying the majority of the taxes. If you are in your 20's and buying your first house you also are footing the bill.
The state is cutting educatiion by 12 billion dollars. Vacaville alone cut 12.3 million. Classes are overcrowded. Computers are old and don't work. Teachers are overworked and underpaid. Students do not have the enrichment opportunities (like social studies and science, not to mention art and music) that every child deserves. Our responsibilities as part of a community is to educate our children, giving them all the opportunities that they deserve.
All of us need to pay more taxes so that the children can get the education that they deserve whether they are in a good neighborhood or not. The educational system in California needs more money and we should all foot the bill for that, it is a most worthy cause.

We need more cuts to the education. Please tell me what do I get for my money??