By Alan Corlin
How much is a good education worth? Imagine where you would be today if you could not read, balance a checkbook or even know if you have received the correct change at your favorite fast food joint.
It is easy to say “thank you” to your teachers for being able to do all these basic things.
It is not as easy to say “thank you” to those who paid for your education. Those many property owners who had no idea who you were but knew the importance of a good education.
Prop. 13, which came to fruition in the early ‘70s, had the unintentional consequence of strangulating the budgets of our public schools.
California went from being one of the highest ranked educational states then to one of the lowest now. All the while we property owners reaped the benefits of Prop. 13’s incremental property value taxation percentage.
It should come as no surprise to any of you that school buildings more than 50 years old now are in need of substantial repairs. It should come as no surprise that courses offered today that need modern equipment and facilities to be properly taught were not even thought of when the school buildings were built.
I do not have any children. I do not have much day-to-day contact with our school facilities.
However, I do not need either to urge you to vote for Measure CC. Measure CC is not just for the kids, but for all of us. If you believe as I do that our most important legacy is how the next generation and countless generations thereafter will thrive as the world changes, then do as I am doing. Vote for Measure CC.
If the adage “you can pay me now or you can pay me later” has meaning, now is that “later” time.
Join me and hundreds and hundreds of your neighbors and vote Yes on Measure CC.
Mr. Corlin, former City Council member, may be contacted at alan.corlin@gmail.com
