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Only radical Democrats, like Jerry Brown and the Bay area "bobsy triplets" (Pelosi, Boxer and Feinstein) can believe Californians are taxed too little--of course all are multi millionaires.
"Is it possible that California's pro-13 majority, denounced for decades as shortsighted and greedy, is actually on to something? The reason people refuse to believe that California's taxpayers keep too much money and its tax collectors don't get enough is, as Brown now says, that there's "so little confidence in state government."
The core of that distrust is the belief that California's public sector suffers not from the lack of money but from the failure to use the ample funds it does receive efficiently and beneficially. There's no shortage of facts about the revenue and spending sides of government, California-style, to justify that suspicion."
This is a very thoughtful article on why Prop. 13 is needed. The worse agency of State government is the government schools. Per Prop. 98, 40% of State revenues must go to government schools. How has that worked out?
"Despite spending less per pupil, two other populous, diverse Sun Belt states, Florida and Texas, have significantly better test scores. California's pupil-to-teacher ratio is the second highest in the country: A public school with 1,000 students in California is likely to have 48 teachers. An average school the same size in Florida will have 63 teachers, and one in Texas will have 69.
Make teachers expensive, and schools will hire fewer of them. According to statistics for 2008-09 from the National Education Assn., California's public schoolteachers are America's most highly compensated, with an average salary of $66,986, 24% above the national average. A job that requires nine months of work for $66,986 corresponds to one that pays $89,312 for 12. The majority of California taxpayers not only earn less than $89,312 a year but cannot receive, as Los Angeles teachers can, guaranteed lifetime tenure after a drive-by performance evaluation in their second year on the job."
Government, and government schools have too much money and too many failures. We need results for our money, not excuses and cries of "more money".
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"Is it possible that California's pro-13 majority, denounced for decades as shortsighted and greedy, is actually on to something? The reason people refuse to believe that California's taxpayers keep too much money and its tax collectors don't get enough is, as Brown now says, that there's "so little confidence in state government."
The core of that distrust is the belief that California's public sector suffers not from the lack of money but from the failure to use the ample funds it does receive efficiently and beneficially. There's no shortage of facts about the revenue and spending sides of government, California-style, to justify that suspicion."
This is a very thoughtful article on why Prop. 13 is needed. The worse agency of State government is the government schools. Per Prop. 98, 40% of State revenues must go to government schools. How has that worked out?
"Despite spending less per pupil, two other populous, diverse Sun Belt states, Florida and Texas, have significantly better test scores. California's pupil-to-teacher ratio is the second highest in the country: A public school with 1,000 students in California is likely to have 48 teachers. An average school the same size in Florida will have 63 teachers, and one in Texas will have 69.
Make teachers expensive, and schools will hire fewer of them. According to statistics for 2008-09 from the National Education Assn., California's public schoolteachers are America's most highly compensated, with an average salary of $66,986, 24% above the national average. A job that requires nine months of work for $66,986 corresponds to one that pays $89,312 for 12. The majority of California taxpayers not only earn less than $89,312 a year but cannot receive, as Los Angeles teachers can, guaranteed lifetime tenure after a drive-by performance evaluation in their second year on the job."
Government, and government schools have too much money and too many failures. We need results for our money, not excuses and cries of "more money".
More...