Local school officials urged the Legislature to consider wielding its new supermajority powers to change the parcel tax threshold from a 2/3 majority vote to the 55 percent threshold needed for school bonds.
This morning on Capital Public Radio's Insight show, Davis Joint Unified trustee Richard Harris and San Juan Unified Superintendent Glynn Thompson both said now is the time to leverage changes in the Legislature to make it easier for school districts to pass parcel taxes that go toward programs, such as music and arts.
Harris questioned why parcel taxes require a much higher voter approval than bonds for facility upgrades. Harris told Insight's host Beth Ruyak that the 2/3 approval is "a heck of a majority on anything, it's a landslide."
On Tuesday, Davis Joint Unified narrowly renewed its parcel tax with 69 percent approval. Measure E will stave off millions in projected cuts in 2013-2014 and was the fifth such measure before Davis voters since 2007.
On Tuesday, voters approved school bonds in San Juan, Sacramento City and Folsom Cordova Unified.
Listen to Ruyak's interview, which included Sacramento City Unified trustee Patrick Kennedy, by clicking HERE.
Read Diana Lambert's story about local school bonds by clicking HERE.
Loretta Kalb started her reporting career at The Sacramento Union, moved to KOVR-13 as a television reporter, editor and producer, headed to The Associated Press in San Francisco and eventually returned to Sacramento and joined The Sacramento Bee. Throughout her career, she has covered the state Legislature, courts, local government and, now, education. She is a Chico native and an Elk Grove resident.
Diana Lambert began her journalism career as a proofreader at the Lodi News-Sentinel. She is now a senior writer at The Sacramento Bee covering K-12 education and California State University, Sacramento. Previously she was The Bee’s Elk Grove bureau chief. Lambert was raised in a military family and lived at bases around the globe. She attended four high schools, graduating from Tokay High in Lodi and then Sacramento State University. She lives in Elk Grove.
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