South Pasadena School Tax Plan Widely Backed

Say tax in this fiscally conservative city and, most of the time, get ready to duck.

But Proposition A, a proposed education parcel tax that will be considered by the voters in a special election Tuesday, is different. Instead of clamorous protest, it is attracting harmonious across-the-board support, with everybody from PTA presidents to traditional tax-bashing organizations praising the measure.

“I think it’s significant that factions in this community who never agreed on anything in the past are all throwing their support behind this initiative,” said Jessica Katz, a mother of two students who is managing the campaign for Proposition A.

The proposal would impose a $98-a-year tax on each parcel in the city for five years. To pass, the measure must be approved by two-thirds of the voters.

What is the broad appeal of Proposition A? “You kind of get a double coupon there,” said Thomas Biesek, a member of the South Pasadena Taxpayers Assn. and a frequent critic of public spending in the city. “You get to educate your children in a premium school district and, at the same time, you get to protect your property values.”

It is an article of faith among longtime residents that South Pasadena’s five schools--three elementary schools, a junior high school and a high school--have boosted property values because of their consistently high scores on state achievement tests.

Opposition to Proposition A has been only sporadic. Harold Bauer, a retired Los Angeles school principal, has argued in letters to the editors of local newspapers and on local talk shows that the tax is unnecessary. A state budget surplus combined with Proposition 98, an initiative approved by voters last year, should significantly beef up the South Pasadena Unified School District’s budget, he says.

“We’re running a quiet, word-of-mouth campaign,” Bauer said. “We don’t have a dime.”

More Than $20,000 Raised

In contrast, the Support South Pasadena Schools committee has raised more than $20,000, which has been used to hire a consultant, run surveys, distribute printed publicity and mail absentee ballot applications to the parents of each of the district’s 3,500 students.

By most estimates, that kind of effort may be necessary. The San Marino Unified School District has twice failed to gain the requisite two-thirds majority, in 1985 and 1986, despite extensive coalition building beforehand.

“I understand that the (San Marino) district did do a considerable amount of legwork to get as many groups together as possible,” said Robert Thompson, San Marino’s assistant superintendent for business, who was hired after the failed attempts.

The South Pasadena measure was proposed last fall by a citizens committee after a one-day teachers’ strike on Oct. 19 demonstrated the district’s fund shortages. Not only were teachers among the lowest paid in the county--42nd out of 43 districts--but the district was being forced to cut educational extras to make ends meet.

A subsequent settlement raised teacher salaries by 10%. But District Supt. Lou Joseph said the district has had to cut $1.2 million from other programs and resources in the last two years. Such items as learning labs that focus on individual difficulties, some English-as-a-second-language classes and some extracurricular programs have been eliminated, he said.

Class Sizes Edging Upward

At the same time, class sizes have been slowly edging upward, Joseph said. Elementary school classes can be as large as 33 students, while junior high classes go up to 36.

“This is my eighth year in the district,” said music teacher Jim Macomber, president of the Teachers Assn. of South Pasadena. “I’ve seen the money get tighter and tighter.” He said that students often have to share textbooks and that classes occasionally run out of paper.

“In my own program, it’s gotten to the point where 80% of our money comes from fund raising,” Macomber said. Instrumental music students staff a concession at high school football games, peddle Christmas wrapping paper and sell tickets to a Dodgers baseball game to raise funds, he said.

Parents are beginning to notice the changes. Last year’s California Assessment Program tests showed that two out of the city’s three elementary schools still ranked among the highest in the county, as well as the junior high school’s eighth grade.

But the district’s traditionally rich educational program has begun to suffer, parents say. “I moved here from Colorado four years ago,” said Mary Ellen Portz, mother of two elementary-school children. “The school my son went to had a full-time paid librarian, a full-time paid (physical education) teacher, a psychologist and a wonderful resource learning lab. South Pasadena has none of those things because they had to be cut.”

The problem has been, said Joseph, that district budgeting was frozen at a comparatively low level when Proposition 13 when into effect 11 years ago. “Our base was low and, at the time, we had high level of reserves,” Joseph said.

Other Districts Get More

Thus, other districts have gradually surpassed South Pasadena’s level of state aid. “San Marino gets $120 more per student than we do; Pasadena gets $180 more per student,” Joseph said.

Proposition A would infuse about $700,000 a year into the system, giving it an extra $200 per year per student.

Bauer argues that Proposition 98, which commits 40% of the state budget to education, and the unexpected state budget surplus this year, should give the South Pasadena schools all they need. “I object to the double taxation of a property tax plus a state tax,” he said.

Bauer added that the new tax was especially hard on senior citizens, who constitute more than a quarter of South Pasadena’s 24,400 residents. “Every extra tax is a hardship,” he said.

But Richard Jones, the Los Angeles attorney who chaired the citizens committee that proposed the tax, contended that prospects for extra state funds are “iffy” at best.

He said the recent Los Angeles teachers’ strike had reportedly been settled on the expectation that the Los Angeles Unified School District would receive an additional $45 million in state aid, because of the state surplus.

“Los Angeles has 600,000 students, we have about 3,000,” Jones said. “By that measure, we’d get about $225,000 more. And it will be a one-shot infusion.”

So far, the diverse group endorsing Proposition A has included the City Council, local Democratic and Republican clubs, state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, county Supervisor Mike Antonovich, state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) and county Assessor John Lynch.