Schools. Spending Limits on Administration. Initiative Statute.
	Argument against Proposition 223

WHY SHOULD DOWNTOWN LA UNIFIED GET ALL THE MONEY?

Proposition 223 does not help our school children, it hurts them.

This initiative is a sham, designed to redirect money away from local school districts, and into the coffers of the huge, downtown Los Angeles School District.

That's why the California PTA, California teachers associations, and school principals all strongly urge your "NO" vote.

Proposition 223 permanently locks a 95/5 formula into law for every local school district in the state. Most school districts lack the economy-of-scale to meet this formula. This means neighborhood schools would be penalized up to $200 per child. That's $4,000 per classroom; an educational disaster.

No money will be saved, because the State of California is required to redistribute every dollar taken away from local districts. Much of the money from penalized local districts would flow from those districts failing to meet the 95/5 formula to the one California district certain to meet the formula: The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

This should come as no surprise, since the initiative was actually written and heavily financed by a single LAUSD Labor Union.

Even smaller Los Angeles districts directly bordering LAUSD will have to watch helplessly as millions of local school dollars get "redirected" downtown by this shameful measure. Every year!

One fact is indisputable. Were this initiative law today, over 90% of California's local school districts would be paying fines averaging nearly $200 per child.

And Proposition 223 allows for no exceptions, not even a natural disaster. Local districts would still be penalized up to $200 per child if their budgets went above the initiative limits due to a flood, fire, or earthquake.

The League of Women Voters, California parents, teachers and educators are strongly opposed to this deceptive charade.

Consult a teacher or school principal in your own local community. They'll tell you the truth. Proposition 223 is bad for our kids and will hurt our local neighborhood schools. Vote NO ON PROPOSITION 223.

ROSALINE TURNBULL
President, California State PTA
STEPHEN C. BOCK
California Teacher of the Year, 1997
RUSTY HEROD
President, California School Employees Association