On July 1,  California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the 12 measures that have qualified for the November election, along with their ballot numbers. Schools and Communities First, the CFT’s top statewide priority in November, will appear as Proposition 15.  CFT will be urging its members to vote “Yes on 15!” to close corporate property tax loopholes and raise up to $12 billion a year in revenue for schools and local communities.

While this measure has long been a priority for CFT members so that we can move California from the bottom of per pupil education spending in this country to the top, it will be even more critical as our schools and the communities they serve begin to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Proposition 15 qualified in April 2020 with a record number of 1.7 million signatures, more than any measure has ever gathered. Grassroots support has steadily been building for this measure, and it has earned the endorsement of prominent Californians, like State Superintendent of Instruction Tony Thurmond and big city mayors like Libby Schaff in Oakland, Eric Garcetti in Los Angeles, and MIchael Tubbs in Stockton. Vice President Joe Biden also registered his support early on for Schools & Communities First.

As the union’s political efforts get underway this fall, members can expect to hear more about why this measure is so critical to our work as educators and classified employees. There will be many opportunities to get involved and ways to help spread the word about why this revenue measure will be so critical to the long-term health of communities across the state of California.  Let’s all work together to make sure this measure passes in November: Yes on Prop 15!

Source: https://www.cft.org/article/schools-communities-first-gets-its-ballot-number