To: The California State House, The California State Senate, and Governor Gavin Newsom

Restore Excellence in California Schools!

As a CA resident and voter, and a PTA member, I am very concerned about the dire state of our school system (we're 49th in per pupil funding and bottom performing).
Because our state needs an educated workforce, and every child deserves a great education, please restore long term stable funding to our schools and spend the new funds effectively as follows:
(1) amend our tax laws so commercial property owners once again pay their fair share of property taxes, and enact an oil severance tax.
(2) invest in pre-school (every $1 invested saves $7), and in our teachers by providing pre-service to new teachers and in-service to existing teachers (mentoring, professional development, excellent working conditions).
Thank you for all of your work on behalf of our children. Together, we can restore excellence to our schools.

Why is this important?

We support a return to excellence in California Schools.
Top performing states spend $16,000 - $22,000 per student per year. California’s goal - for 2021 - is to spend less than half that amount per student.
Meanwhile, California spends $60,000 per year per prison inmate, and one-half of our inmates are high school dropouts. Since 1980, we’ve built 19 prisons and 1 university.