The Kern County Superintendent's Office oversees 47 school districts. Deputy Superintendent Mark Fulmer says the districts have lost more than $1,500 per student over the last six years, so a tax increase could keep the cuts from getting worse.
“The information we have right now is in broad strokes about what the governor has proposed,” Fulmer said. “It’s relatively flat funding for schools with the assumption the initiative passes.”
Governor Jerry Brown is proposing a tax hike to help bring money to state schools. The proposal is still in its early stages, but the plan would be to tax people who earn $250,000 a year and raise the sales tax by half a cent for five years.
Michael Turnipseed, the executive director of KernTax, says his group won't be too quick to vote down the governor's plan like most tax groups.
“I think the governor knows that people are sympathetic to education,” he said. “They know the value of education and that the next generation is counting on getting a good education to better themselves.”
Turnipseed feels education has often been on the back burner for our state legislature, and the government should focus on cutting other areas.
“What we haven't seen yet is meaningful reform in government or pension reform,” he said. “There are a lot of things on the table that we have to look at that have not been cut.”
A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found voters will overwhelmingly support this initiative on the November ballot. In fact, 68% of people surveyed said they will vote 'yes' to a tax increase for education.
Fulmer says whether the proposal passes or not, schools in the county will still face challenges.
“There's still pressure on district budgets,” he said. “That doesn't mean that any programs will grow, it means that districts will still have to make difficult budget decisions.”
He says if the governor’s plan does not pass, the county's schools could lose close to $370 per student. Overall, $5 billion could be cut from California schools overall if the tax hike is not approved.
