A California activist who claims to represent the Committee to End Slavery has made a proposal to alter how public education is funded in that state.
As he did unsuccessfully in 2009, the character, whom Dickens would have embraced, seeks to force a vote that would exempt taxpayers without children from having to pay taxes and fees to support public schools.
Analysts said if the proposal were to draw accord, it would reduce revenue for schools by tens of billions of dollars, and would “… lead to increases in other taxes and fees in order for state and local governments to balance their budgets.”
Petitions to trigger a vote on the proposal require 585,407 signatures. Surely there aren’t that many like-minded even in as populous a state as California.
A complete public education is necessary for many students who then take up residence in the workaday world. Without at least that, they face a life of missed opportunities.
It also propels a good number on to higher education to become professionals — in health fields, and as managers and specialists who answer all sorts of needs — or to hone skills in a multitude of disciplines to make daily life better for all of us.
Also, it should be noted that those who would benefit from the outrageous proposal, most likely were beneficiaries of public education; taxpayers took on the funding burden for them.
Reducing opportunities for the young through such personal greed, misplaced conservatism or just plain nastiness is totally unacceptable.
— Bob Johnson
