Blog: Prop. 30: Be Careful What You Ask For

Voters across California have approved the governor's proposition that would increase taxes on the wealthy and would add a quarter-cent sales tax to everyone. Was this the right solution for public education?

It is my opinion that we got the lottery all over again. It will give the public and many laid-off educators a sense that everything will be OK very soon. This is not the case! Will local school districts be hiring laid-off teachers, reopening school libraries and purchasing new computers or iPads for all students anytime soon? No!

There is a false sense that all of this money generated by Prop. 30 will go for education. Even though the governor has indicated it will go toward paying down the deficit and support lost funds for education, there will not be nearly enough money coming from this proposition to make up for the billions of dollars lost over the last five years.

The recovery in education will be slow and school districts will still be making cuts in their budgets this next year. A few laid-off teachers may be rehired, but this will be a slow process.

I personally was not a supporter of Prop. 30 because it is not a big-picture solution for education in California. We were 46th in funding for education and with Prop. 30 we will remain at the bottom of the list.

— Bill Habermehl was the superintendent of the Orange County Department of Education until his retirement earlier this year.