Proposal

Proposal

Title:  The effects of prop. 30 on the California Budget and how  it will affect the educational prospect in california’s  school system.

           

Oct. 1 2012

Topic: The outcome of prop 30 and how that will affect California, specifically in the educational system (k-12) and community colleges.

Exigence:  This affects me personally, since I am a student and have witnessed major cuts to the college I attend and others across the state. If Prop 30 passes’s I will be personally benefited with new funds circulating to my school, though I will pay .25 (1/4 of a penny) more in state sale taxes.

Intended Audience: Voters,  college students and anyone interested in my opinion on prop 30.

Purpose:  The purpose is to spread awareness about Prop 30, giving details, insight and opinion on the matter.

Claims: That proposition is to be beneficial to California by providing funds  to the schools systems, bettering the quality of life by educating the youths.

Main Evidence: Research from ballotpedia.org and the official title summary analysis.

Ethos:  California is heading toward a disastrous decline; we don’t currently have enough funds to even support our schools anymore.  It is now speculated that If this proposition does not get passed California will be forced to cut nearly 6 billion dollars out of the states budget. Prop 30 is a direct response to this avoidable fate. Instead of making such a devastating cut, prop will raise the sales tax from 7. 25% to 7. 50% while simultaneously creating four new  tax brackets for incomes exceeding $250,000,  $300,000, $500,000 and  1,000,000. The tax rate imposed is 10.3% for incomes over $250,000 but less then $300,000, which is the current rate for incomes exceeding 1,000,000.  It will also tax incomes ranging $300,000 but less then $500,000 with a 11.3% tax rate and finally for incomes exceeding a $1,000,000 it will impose a 13.3% tax rate on the wealthiest of families. 89% of the revenues will be intergraded into (k-12) schools leaving the remanding 11% for the community colleges.  Though it is a large amount of money being circulated throughout the state the proposition will also bar the funds from being distributed for administrative cost, making the money solely spent for educational and public safety interests.

Pathos: I’ve been at Cabrillo for nearly 4 years and in that amount of time I’ve seen the most dramatic cuts. In 2008, the bus passes were a mere 30 dollars per semester, the cost per credit equated to about 8 dollars and the school held enough classes that anyone could enroll in a class with ease.  4 years later and it is a  very different story.  The bus pass is no more, Cabrillo simply couldn’t keep up with the cost. The price paid per credit rose 2 fold, and it is ever increasingly hard to enroll in the classes one wants. At the beginning of ever school year I am shuttered by the sounds of outraged students yelling at administrative employees for the inaccessibility of class’s or the whimper of a pleading student begging to get into a class.  Classes are over crowded , falling apart, and outdated. It has simply become more chaotic,  and the worst part, is that this is applying to all of California.  This proposition is really our only hope, it will give the schools the funding they need to accommodate the rush of students in our future.  Without the proposition being passed, California will make inevitably become bankrupt.

Logos:  It is only logical to tax the rich for the greater good for the whole.  Why must one individual hold nearly $300,000 dollars for their own expenses and necessities when a small portion of that money could easily intergraded into the infrastructure and make a positive change. Before. the utilitarist philosophy applied mostly to the poor, the under powered. The ones who suffered to allow a greater good for the whole, now that has to change. Incomes making more the $250,000 a year are a small percentage of california’s population, by taxing the rich and allocating that money to the schools it really will make a positive impact to the population. Not to mention the symbolism behind it, that educating individuals to think for themselves is more important  one who can make the most money. Vote Prop 30 for a better future for California,  and our kids. 

Annotated Bibliography

Pressburg, Matt. "Prop 30 and prop 38: Dueling Plans To Save California's Schools" USC Annenberg (2012)
The author interprates the effect of the two crucial tax related propositions in this upcoming ballot, in hope of reversing the future cuts to california's school system. Prop 30, "a sales and income tax increase initiative" would raise California's sales tax from 7.25% to 7.50% along with creating mulitpul new taxable income brackets ranging from $250,000, $300,000, and $500,00 affecting these income for 7 years. From the $250,000- $300,000 brackets the proposition will impose a 10.3% tax rate, instead of the old 9.3%. This will provide a substantial amount of money (Approx 6 Billion in the next few years) to the California budget, which will allocate 89% of the temporary tax revenues to K-12 schools and 11% to community colleges. Nevertheless, it will also bar the funds for administrative cost, allowing no one else to access the money except the local school boards.

Prop 38 seems to be more of a radical act of desperation. imposing a sales tax on even the lowest incomes, specifically taxing Incomes as low as $17,346 with proposed revenues resulting in 10 billion dollars a year. Allocating the majority of the money to K-12 schools and early childhood development programs. This will result in a tax rate of .4% on the lowest incomes climbing only as high as 2.2% raise on individuals making 2.5 million in 12 years. This proposition does not seem nearly as strong and logical then Prop 30.  For it will be taxing most Californians who have a low income and only taxing the rich at a 2.2% tax rate.

Reader Response #1

Mark Wild

English 1A

Reader Response  #1

Michael Moore:  Idiot Nation

            I found this to be a brilliant insight into the lack of drive to keep this country educated. Michael Moore brings voice to the millions of American’s struggling to learn in a monopolized educational system where the government is spending more money on bombers then schools today. Corporations are run amuck, influencing our textbooks with their logos and our government is doing nothing about it.   It doesn’t just end there; the pay distribution is so unjust that teacher  “receives an average of $41,351 annually. A congressman who cares only about which tobacco lobbyist is taking him to dinner tonight receives $ 145,100.” (pg. 136) With a low salary, a heavy work load, and many over crowded classrooms , It is no wonder so few choose this as a career. At this rate, it will only allow the United States to continue to decline in this international education race as well as being corporatized, simultaneously making us less educated and squeezing ever last penny they can from the people.

The amount of money expected to pay for a higher education at this day and age, along with the student loans, interest rates, and penalties so many of use have; makes anyone wonder, is it worth it?  In short, yes. In a world where half the humans live on about 2 dollars and 50 cents a day the opportunity to learn and study in a formal dedicated way is still a gift, even if it is a very expensive one at that. Education gave me perspective and context. It is not about maximizing income it is about being a better and more informed person of the universe, for me that’s what leads to a more fulfilling life.

Unfortunatly, Though in most cases colleges are criminally overpriced, the real fear is how now the corporations are infiltrating our textbooks, classrooms, and cafeterias, forever changing how we educate our kids. For instance, Moore quoted a company in Kansas that would “donate “ materials to a school and in exchange? The students would file marketing surveys during school hours, where that time and resource could have easily been used helping them learn how to read or catch up on their algebra. This influence has spread so far and wide that even my Cabrillo specific Math 152 textbook is scattered with fast food logos, they are even topics for my statistic questions. It isn’t just the corporations that are making us “dumber.” No, I think the most apparent problem is that society glorifies some dumb millionaire (aka Paris Hilton, Justin Beiber, Jessica Simpson) one who doesn’t think but rather buys. One who is prone to using the muscle that swipes a credit card then to using the muscle between their ears, that is the real problem.  The saddest part about it, is that children are adopting this superficial, selfish, and money driven nature, rather then being influenced to do something productive to the human race by educating one self and understanding this observable world we live in. 

Op-Ed Article

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/us/californians-face-competing-tax-increase-propositions.html

Week One

Question #2 :According to the narrator this fight takes place when the narrator was a child and the poem is written when the narrator is an adult. What do you think triggers this reflection and why does the narrator now have a greater understanding of Teresa?

It is these interactions that can linger for a lifetime. Confronted with doubt the author was challenged with abiding to a given role to her character, despite her means in doing so. Specifically,being a mexican american living in a place where there is much oppression toward their people, there is a pressure to conform to the cultural norm; even if it is as petty as sharing a common attitude or drive. In this case,  Theresa threatened the author by opposing her well mannered , studious nature causing a prolonged resentment for years to come. Of course, being so young one is naive and predictably critical to someone they do not understand.  The message behind the poem is that the author simply didnt know better. The only influences she noted was the joined effort of her family to shape the person she is today. Her Grandmother,  who gave her pencils for Christmas when it could have easily been make up or cloths. Or her hard working father, mastering a skill of precision and patience, all of  these forces helped mold her identity. 
Àvila Hernàndez accepted Teresa because she recognizes that both of them shared an equal misunderstanding of  each other. They came from different families, dove into different interest, dressed differently. For teresa, it was her nature to confront the author of her ways, but in the end it was just deriving from her own insecurities. The insecurities all kids share when struggling to build their identity. It is until now, when Àvila Hernàndez is an adult that she can reflect on the past with better reasoning,  forgiving Teresa not for her actions but for her ignorance. Now that she is an adult she can look at Teresa and respect her for who she is, not who she isn't. I truly believe that empathy is the pinnacle of understanding another person or group of people. We as humans act in ways that demand conformity, it is that very structure that allows us to strive in our identity. For both, it was a lack of understanding of each other allowing them to struggle with acceptance and ended in anger. 

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