Alameda Education Depends on Measure E

Alameda Education Depends on Measure E
By Miguel Gamalinda

The City of Alameda has always been unique among cities in the East Bay for it’s “small town”-like atmosphere. Alamedans have always taken pride in this fact, their small population having made many things in this town excellent. One prime example of this is the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD), known for it’s small class sizes, neighborhood elementary schools, and quality education for all of it’s students.

Unfortunately in recent years, funding from the State of California has steadily diminished to it’s current state, rendering the AUSD unable to continue to have provided the level of education that it had provided for many years before. In 2006, due to lack of available funding, three of the AUSD’s West End elementary schools, Longfellow, Woodstock, and Miller, were consolidated into one new elementary school known as Ruby Bridges. This left the AUSD with the eleven functioning elementary schools that are currently serving Alameda students in grades K through 5, along with the three remaining middle schools (To be reduced to two next school year) and the two traditional high schools. State funding, however, is continuing to shrink every year and as a result, Alamedans have turned to local Parcel Tax measures to keep the current AUSD schools open. Measures A and H, both previously approved by Alameda voters, are parcel tax measures that tax residents and businesses in Alameda in order to keep funding for AUSD schools. Both of these parcel tax measures are set to expire in June of 2012, and members of the community have proposed a new parcel tax measure, known as Measure E, in order to keep our schools open. If approved, Measure E would immediately replace both Measures A and H and would continue to fund our increasingly underfunded education system. In order to pass, Measure E would require a 66.6% ‘Yes’ supermajority in compliance with California Proposition 13, which was passed by California voters in 1978 in order to limit property taxation in the State of California. Measure E would tax residential property owners $659 per parcel in Alameda, and would tax $0.13 per square foot for Alameda Businesses, however, those who cannot afford to pay the parcel tax for reasons such as living on Social Security or Fixed Income are permitted to apply for an exemption. According to the AUSD’s website (http://www.alameda.k12.ca.us), exemptions may be granted for property, “(a) owned by one or more persons aged 65 years or older, and (b) which is the owner’s principal place of residence,” known as the Senior Citizen Exemption. Exemptions may also be granted for property, “(a) owned by one or more persons receiving Supplemental Security Income for a disability, regardless of age, and (b) which is the owner’s principal place of residence,” known as an SSI Exemption. Without Measure E’s passing, the AUSD is faced with the closure of most elementary schools, at least one middle school, and one high school.

Measure E will not be polled at designated polling places. Instead, orange ballots will be mailed to registered Alameda voters at their homes in the last week of May. These ballots will be primarily mail-in; however a drop-off box will be available at City Hall. (2263 Santa Clara Ave. at Oak St.) The deadline to mail in or drop off your ballot is June 22, 2010.