WACAC! Be sure to vote in favor of extending Prop 30 on the November ballot in California. Below is the language of WACAC’s resolution.
WHEREAS, the Western Association for College Admission Counseling (WACAC) is committed to making policy and financial decisions that enable the school districts to provide quality educational programs and services to the school-age children in California; and
WHEREAS, during the recent recession, the state cut more than $56 billion from education, healthcare and other critical services; and public schools statewide experienced unprecedented funding reductions and apportionment deferrals; and
WHEREAS, California public schools rank 42nd out of the 50 states in per-pupil spending; California public schools are the most crowded in the nation [1]; and California provides fewer guidance counselors and librarians per student than any other state in the nation; and
WHEREAS, many of California’s schoolchildren come from low-income families that lack access to the health care services needed to keep those children in school and learning; and
WHEREAS, passage of Proposition 30 in 2012 helped increase state revenues, providing a significant boost to California’s K-12 school spending and sending funds directly to school districts through the Education Protection Account; WHEREAS, the revenues from Proposition 30 will decline after 2016 and will disappear completely after 2018, the last year its provisions will be in effect; and
WHEREAS, the Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act would extend Proposition 30’s temporary income tax rates for an additional 12 years, to continue funding the Education Protection Account and boost spending on health care for low income families; and
WHEREAS, unless Californians extend Proposition 30’s temporary tax increases, the state’s schools most likely will receive relatively fewer dollars in the years ahead, raising the prospect that California’s school spending will fall even further behind the nation; and
BE IT RESOLVED that the Western Association for College Admission Counseling joins school districts around the state in supporting the Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act and in urging the Legislature to work with the public education community to identify stable, long-term, adequate funding solutions for public schools; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body, the Western Association for College Admission Counseling supports the passage of the Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act because it provides needed revenue to public schools and will specifically benefit the students of California for the reasons described herein.
Adopted by the Executive Committee on May 29, 2016.
Ed Devine, President Western Association for College Admission Counseling