Letter: Plea for Measure G from PTA Leaders

To the Editor:

We are writing to encourage the entire community to vote YES ON G this November 6th. Measure G is the renewal of our local parcel tax that supports our schools.

Didn't we just vote on this? Yes we did. Last June, Measure K, which would have renewed and extended our education parcel tax, failed by a heartbreaking 400 votes. We were not able to muster the 66 2/3% supermajority needed to pass the measure in our district. Kensington, El Cerrito and Richmond overwhelmingly supported the measure with YES votes in the 70% range and above. We are proud to live in a community that is committed to public education and ask you to show that support again in November.

Measure G is not a new tax. It is a renewal of the existing education parcel tax that is already on your tax bill. Since this tax expires in 2014, we are asking for your support to renew it for the next five years by voting YES on Measure G. A senior exemption is available for those over 65.

Measure G will raise about $9.6 million per year for our school district. Of that, $2.2 million will help to lower class sizes for the youngest children. Measure G will also pay for librarians, high school sports, counselors, textbooks, and teacher support. Without Measure G, these programs and services will lose their funding.

Our school district has suffered trememdously in the economic downturn. We have lost over $40 million of state funding in the last 5 years.  Our schools have cut their budgets to the bone, eliminating important programs and laying off teachers and staff. Measure G would raise money that the state cannot take away—it stays in the district.  

In addition, we encourage you to vote YES ON 30 and YES ON 38. While neither of these state funding measures is perfect, they would provide critically needed financial support for our schools. Without them, there will be a budget shortfall big enough to cut the school year by three weeks. Our kids could get out of school in mid-May, 2013. 

Please join us and the thousands of other parents at Kensington, Madera, Mira Vista, Harding, Fairmont, Portola Middle School and El Cerrito High School by voting in favor of public education on November 6th.

     Sincerely,

• Romy Douglass and Tom Sherris- Watt, President and Executive Vice President, Kensington Hilltop Elementary School PTA
• The Executve Board of the Kensington Hilltop Elementary School PTA
• Nathalie van Linder, Co-President, Kensington Education Foundation
• Dennis Hartigan-O'Connor, Co President, Kensington Education Foundation
• Carolyn Day Flowers, Active Kensington Hilltop Parents as a School Site Council Member
• Amk Kang, Executive Vice President, Mira Vista Elementary School PTA
• Evangeline Ireland, President, Portola Middle School PTSA
• Nancy Gordon, President, El Cerrito High School PTSA
• Steven Gaffagan, President Madera Elementary School PTA
• Harding Elementary School PTA
• Farimont Elementary School PTA

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