Results of the 2006 Audience Poll on California's School Finance System -- Fremont

March 2006

EdSource asked participants several questions related to school finance reform at the 2006 Forum. Here are the poll results from Southern California:

 

Please identify yourself as a member of one of the following groups.

• K-12 employee (teacher, administrator, classified employee)
• Student advocate or advocacy group member (PTA, other community group, school board member, etc.)
• Civic, business, or research group member (LWV, AAUW, higher ed, researcher, foundation, business leader, other)

 

Would you support reforms to increase local school districts' ability to tax their communities?

• No, would not support
• Would support a limited increase such as a 55% passage rate on parcel taxes
• Would support a full return to pre-Proposition 13 days when local districts set their own local property tax rates and the state moderated differences between localities through some forced equalization
• Would support some increase in school districts' ability to raise regular property tax rates with voter approval, but within strict constraints

 

Which of the following should Californians use as the baseline goal for determining our investment in public education and measuring the success of that investment?

• Percent of high school students who graduate
• Percent passing the California High School Exit Exam (testing English and math only)
• Percent scoring proficient or above in four core subjects (English, math, history/social science, and science)
• Percent completing curriculum required for college admissions (the a-g courses)