The Votes Are In!
2023 Readers' Choice is back, bigger and better than ever!
View Winners → 
Home /
Prop. 15’s Defeat Won’t Immediately Affect California’s School Funding Challenge
Share This Article: A special education pre-k class that has been permitted to reopen amid coronavirus concerns on the Lu Sutton Elementary school campus in Novato.
Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters By Ricardo Cano | CalMatters Voters narrowly defeated Proposition 15, the tax measure that aimed to eliminate decades-long protections for commercial properties — dashing hopes of billions of dollars flowing into California’s cash-strapped public schools and community colleges in the coming years.
In the second-most expensive ballot fight this election, Prop. 15 supporters said the measure would help right what they viewed as a fundamental wrong in the state’s school funding system by increasing the share of property-tax revenues going toward schools. Opponents characterized Prop.
15 as harmful to small businesses and the state’s economy at a time when the pandemic has already strained or shuttered several local businesses. “We’re the fifth-largest economy in the world,” said E. Toby Boyd, president of the California Teachers Association, the top benefactor for the Yes on 15 campaign, “and big corporations should be paying their fair share to invest in our students, our public schools, our families and our communities.” The measure backed by labor unions, community organizations and several […]
