Letters to the Editor: The new Prop. 13 doesn’t deserve to pass, even if schools need more money

To the editor: I think a lot of Californians are dismayed at the state of our public education system. We are looking at spending $81 billion this year on K-12 and community education. (“There’s a new Proposition 13. It would send billions to California schools that need it,” column, Feb. 17)

Yes, this is a big state, but surely we can find some additional money in the existing $215-billion overall state budget for education instead of authorizing $15 billion in new bonds.

The issue of “first come, first serve” for deciding which districts get state funding, a system that benefits wealthier areas, does not need a bond measure to solve. It simply needs politicians and officials willing to find new solutions. But that is not currently the California method.

Put simply, we have not seen the benefits of prior bonds and regular tax increases. Show me some positive results. Until then, this voter says no to Proposition 13 and related efforts.

Robert Filacchione, Fullerton

..

To the editor: As columnist George Skelton wrote, having another Proposition 13 on the ballot that has nothing to do with property taxes will create confusion. This is at a time when there has been a lot of talk about destroying the landmark Proposition 13 from 1978.

The more well-known Proposition 13 was intended to keep homeowners from being pushed out of their homes due to constant tax bill increases. It was sold as protecting homeowners, not businesses. The separate initiative proposed by the teachers union, which is headed for the November ballot, is just what we need to provide schools with some relief while continuing to protect homeowners, as the original Proposition 13 intended.

I have also received mail from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. saying that the Legislature is trying to kill the landmark Proposition 13, when I have heard nothing else to support that claim. Reusing the landmark Proposition 13 number for a new bond issue to support schools will probably mean the measure will go down in defeat.

John Jensen, Torrance