Anti-Public Education Ballot Initiative Begins Gathering Signatures
This is a state-wide initiative submitted by City Council Member and current Mayor of Thousand Oaks, Kevin McNamee et al.
To be placed on the ballot, 874,641 valid signatures must be gathered.
OFFICIAL SUMMARY: Requires state to provide yearly voucher payments ($17,000 initially, adjusted annually) into Education Savings Accounts for California residents in grades TK-12 attending religious and nonreligious private schools anywhere in the United States. Payments will come from General Fund and property tax revenues currently allocated to public schools (including charter schools). Eliminates constitutional prohibition on state funding of religious and nonreligious private schools. Prohibits state from requiring certain curriculum, disciplinary, or teacher credentialing policies as condition of funding. Creates privately appointed board to distribute payments of public funds. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments
FISCAL IMPACT SUMMARY: Increased state costs, likely ranging from $6.3 billion to $10 billion per year, to provide funding for students currently enrolled in private schools. The state could pay for these costs with revenues currently reserved for public schools (or other programs in the state budget). To the extent public school students shift to private schools, the state would have additional costs—likely at least several billion dollars annually—that would be offset by lower spending on public schools. Over time, state costs for public school facilities probably would decrease by a couple hundred million dollars per year. Public schools would experience reductions in state funding and some federal and local funding—as well as reductions in various costs—based on decreases in their enrollment. All of these effects assume the state can legally implement the program to its full extent. (23-0026A1.)
Click the link below and scroll down to item #1968
*Elections Code section 9034 requires that once proponent(s) of a proposed initiative measure have gathered 25% of the number of signatures required (currently 136,663 for an initiative statute and 218,661 for a constitutional amendment) proponent(s) must immediately certify that they have done so under penalty of perjury to the Secretary of State.
Upon receipt of the certification, the Secretary of State must provide copies of the proposed initiative measure and the circulating title and summary to the Senate and the Assembly. Each house is required to assign the proposed initiative measure to its appropriate committees and hold joint public hearings, at least 131 days before the date of the election at which the measure is to be voted on. However, the Legislature cannot amend the proposed initiative measure or prevent it from appearing on the ballot.
Thousand Oaks School Crossing Guards
Is it possible that crossing guards are going the way of hall monitors and cursive writing? Is the expense of keeping children safer and encouraging exercise and independence too much for our community to bear?
Why are fewer kids walking to school? Is it busy schedules, perceptions of safety, a generational shift in families' lives?
Would it be better to improve pedestrian safety 24/7 rather than focusing on school related use? Traffic calming measures like curb cuts, islands, and elevated signage increase pedestrian safety all the time. The schools below will be the first to go, but likely not the last.
Here are the schools that are likely to lose crossing guards in the next few years if City of Thousand Oaks approach on this issue doesn’t take a new direction.
Janss Road and Marlow Street – Aspen Elementary
Lynn Road and Knollwood Drive – Banyan Elementary
Windsor Drive and Spalding Street – Glenwood Elementary
Calle Damasco and Calle Almendro – Ladera Elementary
Camino Manzanas and Marian Avenue – Madroña Elementary
Whitechapel Place and Knightsbridge Avenue – Lang Rang Elementary
Whitechapel Place and Sandhurst Avenue – Lang Ranch Elementary
Camino Calandria and Darlington Drive – Weathersfield Elementary
Cascade Avenue and Panamint Court – Westlake Hills Elementary