Measure H Ballot Filed With No Formal Opposition

Despite an online backlash, proponents of a June 5 parcel tax benefitting the New Haven Unified School District have recently filed the ballot measure with the county registrar’s office without any formal opposition.

Signing in favor of the $180 parcel tax, dubbed Measure H, were Union City Mayor , community activist and grandmother Mary Schlarb, founder and part-time teacher Jeff Macalolooy, senior citizen commissioner Hugh McNamara and former New Haven Board of Education President Gertrude Gregario.

“Good local schools improve home values. Measure H is good for our entire community,” reads the argument in favor of the measure.

The measure aims to “support high-quality local elementary, middle and high school education, to prepare students for college and careers with outstanding core academic programs in reading, writing, math and science, with highly qualified teachers and classified staff,” according to the ballot statement.

If passed, property owners would be taxed $180 per parcel for a period of four years, beginning July 1, 2012 and ending June 30, 2016. The measure is expected to raise $3 million for the school district each year, according to the ballot statement.

The measure also includes an optional exemption for senior citizens and persons with disabilities, according to the ballot text. Residents 65 or older and those with disabilities who wish to be exempt must apply to the district on or before July 1 each tax year.

The measure also calls for a citizen’s oversight committee to be established to make sure the tax revenues are being spent properly.

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Though there was no formal opposition submitted, several residents have voiced their concerns online about the parcel tax measure, urging community members to vote against it.

Some commenters have said they refuse to support Measure H because and . Some have said they would .

“If the salaries were cut from the top as well, not just teachers, it would ‘help’ as they say the tax would have done if passed [the] first time around,” wrote a Union City Patch reader under the name .

“No city ever created a tax it didn't come to depend on and this will be no different. It will not be temporary. Once it's passed, the same issues will occur each time it's about to expire and the fear will be put into everyone all over again,” Lisa added.

But not everyone posting online has been a dissenter. Supporters of the tax measure have also taken to Union City Patch.

“The bigger issue is not about jobs but about the future of our children and our society,” wrote a Union City Patch user under the name . “Wait 20 years, you'll have a whole society of adults who have grown up in California's public education system without ever having had science classes, any kind of elective classes, school librarians or libraries.”

New Haven faces a nearly $11 million deficit for the 2012-13 school year. Earlier this month, the district issued layoff notices for 85 teachers and more than 30 classified staff to make up for the shortfall.

As a result, the district is proposing all science and music classes to be cut from for K-8 classes and all electives to be eliminated from the district’s two middle schools. Libraries will also be shut down. Teachers will also have nine furlough days in the upcoming school year, up from 6 in 2011-12.

Charmaine Banther, a member of the Measure H steering committee and president of the New Haven Teachers Association, says the tax — and the teachers — have students’ best interest in mind, refuting some of the accusations made by opponents online.

“We haven’t gotten a raise in over six years. In fact, this year we took a pay cut because of reduced work days,” Banther said. However, she added that teachers have and will continue to receive step and column increases.

Banther also said that the teachers union changed their health benefits three years ago from an independent broker to . The move, which increased co-pay and prescription costs, saves the district $1 million a year, she said.

A more than three percent cut to teachers’ salaries also helped maintain class sizes at a 25-to-1 student to teacher ratio in K-2 classrooms in the 2011-12 school year, according to Banther.

“This year, the budget is so dire, we need help with the parcel too,” she said. “We’re looking at the future. We don’t want to keep cutting our program and we don’t want to cut the things that make New Haven great.”

While , a similar tax measure that failed to pass last year, was to maintain class sizes and extra-curricular programs, Measure H is dedicated to maintaining quality in schools in general. Where the money will go if Measure H is approved will be determined by the oversight committee, Banther said.

Banther said Measure H steering committee members want small class sizes, math and science programs, libraries and electives restored just as they were before the state’s budget crisis.

“All of those things are important to us and are priorities,” Banther said. “We want to maintain strong academic programs and in order to that we need more funds than we have projected for next year.”

The fate of New Haven doesn’t hinge on Measure H alone. District officials are also asking voters to approve Gov. Brown’s state tax measures in November or else additional cuts to local education will be made.

“If one passes and the other doesn’t, or if neither passes, then this community is going to have to make some really, really tough decisions,” Banther said.

Proponents of Measure H are urging supporters to join them this weekend for a rally and march to be held Saturday at 9 a.m. Parcel tax supporters will march from to Union Landing.

The last planning meeting for the rally will be held tonight at 6 p.m. at the New Haven Teachers Association office, located at 32980 Alvarado-Niles Rd., Suite 812.