Journal 3: Direct Democracy; California Politics; Ballot

Propositions

Ballot propositions are important measures that will be initiated through the
direct vote of the people of each state. At the state level, the direct initiative gives
Californians the power to propose constitutional amendments and laws that fellow
citizens will vote on without the legislatures involvement (California Politics, 2015).
California is what is called a hybrid government meaning that people can initiate
laws, referendums, and measures without the influence of government (California
Politics). In California, state ballot measures have covered many topics including
schools, crime, health care, transportation, taxes, and how our government operates. A
proposition can only cover one subject. People who choose to put a proposition on the
ballot may have a specific goal for something they want to have funded (Easy Voter
Guide, 2010). Proposition 30 (2012), was a measure admitted to increase taxes on
people who make 250,000 dollars or more, and those increased taxes would allocate
funds to education and schools. The longterm prop summary saidbars use of funds
for administrative costs, but provides local school governing boards discretion to
decide, in open meetings and subject to annual audit (ballotpedia). This measure
helped to decrease school budget cuts and import new programs to benefit teachers,
students and the community at large. However, many have conversely spoke about its
stab at the millionaires and if the money was evenly distributed to the schools and
districts in need.

In February of 2015, I took a job at a local school in Coachella, California. The job
title read Reading Intervention Specialist. It was a part-time, temporary position that
helped children struggling with reading comprehension, phonemic awareness, and the
use of language in writing. The position was quite new as this was the second year the
program had been running in the district. The principal had discussed with me the
implications of how their school received this type of extra assistance, and he stated
they received this extra funding over the past few years; due to prop 30. The position I
obtained, was a position I really had to make my own. Which for me, was quite
intriguing. The money they had received was specifically to pay for our services we
were providing to struggling students, and I greatly appreciate the idea of the program
I was apart of. Teachers have a hard time with critically attending to every students
needs and I was able to help them by pulling those specific students out of their classes
each day to not only work with them on grammar, reading and language skills, but also
serve as a mentor, confidant or cheerleader. It was a time for them to study individually,
while eliminating judgement or shyness they felt surrounded by other peers.
As much as I am never in favor of hiking up taxes to individuals who have more
often than not worked very hard for their earnings, this seemed like a very fair outcome
of these increased taxes. It put money back into education and made very clear that the
state was doing something about the numerous cases of underfunded districts,
underpaid teachers and students who were not receiving adequate attention. However,
I had questions. I questioned whether these funds were being evenly distributed to
schools with the highest needs. Not just schools whose socioeconomics were on the
lower spectrum, but truly to schools who have not received funding in years, or taken

major pay cuts. Usually, from what I have been told, it is pretty common for schools
who score very low on standardized testing to be severely underfunded, which has
never made much sense to me. If anything, that is where money is needed the most;
given to the schools with the lowest testing and failing students. Prop 30 has assisted
with the defunding crisis in education and helped many schools like the school I was
involved with, better assist their students needs and overall development.

Bibliography
State Ballot Measures. N.p.: Quadrille Pub., 2009. Easy Voter Guide. League of Women
Voters California EducatIon Fund. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
"California Proposition 30, Sales and Income Tax Increase (2012) - Ballotpedia." California
Proposition 30, Sales and Income Tax Increase (2012) - Ballotpedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Rene, Van Vechten. "Three." California Politics: A Primer. N.p.: Sage Publications, 2015.
25-42. Print.