That must be a CA constitutional thing. I am not aware of any other jurisdiction that has determined that to be the case. Don’t get me wrong, I am a proponent of lower taxes however achieved.
Given that reality, however, this still does little to explain the hard sell on funds lacking for “adequate” teacher pay. As far as I remember, teachers work about 25% less than every other full time, non-civil employee. Even harder to understand is the demise of the educational system here given the reduction in the % of taxes paid by homeowners. While the % dropped, the absolute numbers have gone through the roof (I’m speculating). I don’t get it. (actually I do but that would mean I go into gov bashing mode)
JP,
I have 4 kids. The fact that we send them to a private school makes this discussion even more sensitive to the touch. I checked the scores of the high schools before the move and determined that the top high schools (TP, La Jolla, Coronado, Poway) were ones where mello roos appears to have had little or no effect on the quality of the education. While there are other, newer high schools (westview) that have seen MR benefit, most of those bonds appear to be funding new elementary schools.
