Font ResizeIn unanimously passing board member Bennett Kayser's resolution, the panel mirrored action by the California School Boards Association in supporting Proposition 30, backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, and Proposition 38, supported by Pasadena philanthropist Molly Munger.
Other school board members have sponsored resolutions that separately endorse the revenue initiatives. Those resolutions are on the agenda for the board's afternoon session, and are expected to be approved.
Those two proposals had previously been put on the agenda. Kayser's however, was presented to the board as an "urgency" measure in order to get it considered in time for voter guides and other election information.
"The Los Angeles Unified School District, like every school district in California, is on the ropes financially," Kayser said in a statement. "California schools were already in the basement compared to other states in per-pupil funding, but this recession is having a devastating effect on our schools and the next generation."
Several speakers voiced support for Munger's plan, which would raise the state's income tax rate for 12 years and generate an estimated $10 billion for public schools.
State PTA advocate Scott Folsom noted that Prop. 38
"You could spend money for arts education, music, science, a librarian perhaps," Folsom said. "You will decide how to spend the money, and what your school will get is better."
Prop. 30, the competing proposal by Brown, would raise the state sales tax by a half-cent and raise income taxes on wealthy households. Its passage would stave off drastic cuts to education, including an estimated $264 million to Los Angeles Unified's $6 billion budget for the current school year.
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