Parcel taxes by simple majority: a game changer?
Some school districts raise extra money through parcel taxes for highly qualified teachers and for enrichment classes like art, music and technology. But parcel taxes — which require approval by a two-thirds “supermajority” of voters — are ha
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Show Notes
Some school districts raise extra money through parcel taxes for highly qualified teachers and for enrichment classes like art, music and technology. But parcel taxes — which require approval by a two-thirds “supermajority” of voters — are hard to pass, and only a handful of school districts, most of them small, high-income districts, have ever passed one.
A little-known court decision from last year lowered the threshold to pass parcel taxes to a simple majority, as long as citizens put the measure on the ballot and not the government. Could this be a game-changer for low-income school districts?
Guests:
- Yolanda Valdez, superintendent, Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District
- John Fensterwald, editor-at-large, EdSource
Read more from EdSource: California court decision ups the odds for passing school parcel taxes
Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.