MEASURE

C

Shall the Berkeley Unified School District spend the previously-voted tax monies to continue the special programs of the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project (BSEP) authorized by over 83% of Berkeley voters in 1994 under the Berkeley Public Schools Educational Excellence Act of 1994?

THE SITUATION

In 1994, voters approved a special tax for BSEP to generate education revenues for a period of 12 years starting with the 1995-96 fiscal year. The California Constitution places certain spending limits on governmental entities, including school districts. This is known as the "Gann limit," which requires that every 4 years there be a majority vote to spend the funds that are already being collected.

s passed since that initiative.

This proposition, Measure C, would authorize the Berkeley Unified School District to continue to spend these tax revenues for the purposes set forth in the 1994 measure:

• 60% to reduce class size;
• 16% for enrichment programs as determined by each school site;
• 12% to purchase books and educational materials;
• 8% to improve school security and maintenance of buildings/grounds;
• 4% to provide an instrumental music program in the elementary schools.

A YES vote means the money will be released and the above programs continued.

A NO vote means the money will not be released, but will continue to be collected and presumably placed in a fund for future decision.

· This is not a vote for new taxes but a vote to be able to spend the money already being collected by the 1994 special tax to improve the schools ­ a tax overwhelmingly approved by the voters.

· The money is vital for the schools. These funds pay for almost 1/5 of the teachers, without whom class sizes would be greatly increased and valuable programs lost.

· Without BSEP the District would have to cut other programs drastically to take advantage of the state-mandated size reduction.

· If this measure is not passed, not only would the district lose funding for almost 1/5 of its teachers, but also it would likely be unable to implement state class size reductions in K-3 grades; and Grades 4-8 would average at least 32 students per teacher, with the high school, 35 per teacher. BSEP enrichment programs would be lost, as well as $1 million for educational materials.

· There is no formal opposition.

Doris Fine, President, League of Women Voters; Mary Friedman, Executive Director, Berkeley Public Education Foundation; Jeffrey Shattuck Leiter, Chairman and CEO, M.F.K. Blake Estate, Inc.; Pedro Noguera, Assoc. Prof., Graduate School of Education,U.C. Berkeley; Jonathan O'Donnell, Chair, BSEP Planning and Oversight Committee.

MAJOR OPPONENTS

There is no formal opposition recorded in the Alameda County Voter Pamphlet.