Bonds are NOT free money, like politicians want you to think. Proposition 203 calls for taxpayers to pay $3 BILLION, plus another $2.4 BILLION in interest, over 20 years. That's right, using bonds almost doubles the cost of any government project. Instead of biting the bullet now, politicians want our kids and grandkids to pay the bills.
Of course we all want good schools. But over half of California's bloated $57 BILLION budget goes to schools already. The law requires the first 40% of California's budget be used for education. The Legislature and governor usually give education bureaucrats anything they ask for--in return for millions of dollars of campaign contributions.
Taxpayers already fork over income taxes, sales taxes and property taxes to finance schools. California spends an average of $5,200 per student each year. That's $156,000 for a classroom of 30 kids. If the teacher earns $40,000, where does the other $116,000 go? Who's getting rich off your taxes? The school establishment pleads poverty--but in fact it wastes huge amounts of money on administrators and other bureaucrats. There should be plenty of money in each school district's regular budget to pay for needed projects and maintenance.
The government has a monopoly on public education. It takes our taxes and offers us a school system that doesn't face hard competition. Overworked teachers who must deal with too many administrators and too much paperwork cannot educate students well. Parents who can afford to do so flee the chaos of California's public schools to get a quality education for their kids in private schools.
There are alternatives to throwing our tax dollars away. Either tuition tax credits or vouchers would give parents and kids the choice they deserve. When detractors say public schools would shrivel up and die if parents had a choice, they're just admitting the present system is a failure.
In the case of colleges, taxpayers (most of whom have no college age children) already subsidize students who attend government-run universities. A college education is NOT a right. Students who have the determination and qualifications to attend college should pay the entire cost themselves (or find someone else to pay, like a scholarship fund). Forcing single people, the elderly and childless couples to foot the bill is wrong. If the $975 million earmarked for colleges is truly needed, then those who use the facilities should pay for them.
PARENTS AND KIDS NEED A CHOICE IN EDUCATION! TAXPAYERS NEED RELIEF FROM MASSIVE GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND OUT-OF-CONTROL BOND DEBT!
Save California taxpayers $5.4 BILLION over 20 years.
VOTE NO on Proposition 203.
GAIL LIGHTFOOT
Chair, Libertarian Party of California
TED BROWN
Member, Executive Committee, Libertarian Party
of California
PAM PROBST
Teacher