Proposal

Title: Pros and Cons of Prop 30

Author: I am a 2nd year, 19 year old college student currently attending community college with the support of student aid.

Topic: Proposition 30 is a state tax measure that will increase income taxes to those earning $250,000 or more to raise money for the safety departments and the CA education system, specifically for K-12 and also community colleges.

Exigence: Prop 30 will affect the education system direly if it does not pass, but if it does pass then it will have a much ne eded benefit on schools state-wide.

Intended Audience: It is for anyone that is a voter that cares about our state's education system, either being for it, against it, or uninformed about prop 30.

Claim: Proposition 30, if passed, will be beneficial to the education system as a whole, and make it easier to educate our youth in the future.

Logos: If Prop 30 passes we will see an increase in taxes for people earning over $250,000 in a fiscal year for the next 7 years and also a 1/4 cent increase in sales tax over the next 4 years, helping generate approximately $6.6 billion dollars in revenue that will dispersed to the education system. 89% will go to levels K-12 and the remaining 11% will go to community colleges. Prop 30 also guarantees that funds will be raised for the safety departments out of the remaining budget. But if Prop 30 fails in the polls then consequently approximately $5.3 billion dollars will be cut from the Education system. Also with the Fail of Prop 30 we will see a $250 million dollar budget cut in CSU system that would be effective immediately.

Ethos: I connect to this subject because if Prop 30 passes or fails it affects me personally, and also any other student in the California Education system. With as bad as budget cuts have been in the last few years its getting harder and harder for students to continue their education. Also with the budget cuts community colleges have faced; classes got bigger but the selection has gotten smaller because teachers have been laid off making the coveted two-years then done and off to University nearly impossible simply because community colleges are getting over-crowded.

Pathos: Why would you want to make it harder to be successful in life? if Prop 30 fails, the "American Dream" will become even more of a myth as it is right now. But if it passes then students statewide will have a fighting chance to achieve their dream and live the "American Dream." Prop 30 also induces hope into the future of the education system because with this extra help kids can have a brighter future to look towards to and might have a chance to change the world, But only passing Prop 30 will allow that extra chance.

Annotated Bibliography

Rivera, Carla. "Cal State system to hike tuition 5% if Prop. 30 fails." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times Web 18, Sept. 2012

In this Article, Carla Rivera discusses the effect that Proposition 30 will have on the entire CSU system. Rivera Explains that if this proposition does not pass in November that the entire system would undergo $250 million dollars in budget cuts, Causing all CSU's to increase tuition costs 5% which would equal to $150 per semester generating $58 million in revenue. And also with the failure of Prop 30 will be an increase in price per unit of 7%. But if Proposition 30 passes Rivera States "Cal State would forego the January hike and also rescind the 9% tuition hike that took effect this fall. . . The system would have to refund tuition checks, grant tuition credit and recalculate financial aid packages for most of its 412,000 students." Ultimately meaning that tuition cost will go down, and because of the drop students will be refunded some of their initial tuition costs. But because Prop 30 is still up in the air on the ballot, Rivera mentions that CSU’s are still trying to figure out how they will raise the potential $375 million in budget cuts if the Prop fails, suggesting a midyear tuition increase of about 20%.

“Poll shows close call for Jerry Brown's tax plan” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times Web 19, Sept 2012

Governor Jerry Brown’s introduces new tax initiative called Proposition 30, it would increase sales tax by a ¼ cent and raise income taxes to 1-3 percent for residents earning over $250,000. Most of this revenue will be given to Public education from K-UC’s and also to safety departments like police, and Fire. But if this prop fails then there will be almost $6 billion in budget cuts, mostly affecting public education. And according to recent polls by the Public Policy Institute of California,  “52% supported the measure, 40% said they were against the measure, 8% said they didn’t know how they would vote.

Response #1

To prevent anymore drastic budget cuts in public education and safety; including the fire and police departments. The government devised a proposition that will be a temporary 1-7%  tax increase over the next 7 years to the wealthy persons in the U.S. personally i agree with this proposition because not only will it help our public safety perform to a higher potential but also it will mean a bigger budget for schools. I, being a full time student at Cabrillo College also being on Student Aid because my family has had its struggles, it means that i will be able to receive a little bit more money and to keep going to school, and also when i graduate from Cabrillo, university tuition will also be a little bit lower making it easier for me and my parents better afford higher education. Also including in prop 30 is a increase in sales tax, but being a minuscule 1/4 of a cent for every dollar spent. So it wont be that bad, but if prop 30 does not pass, that means a 6 billion dollar budget decrease in public education. Meaning that there will be less teachers, less subjects to study, and also lastly, which affects everybody, an increase in college tuition. Because of these budget decrease, that would mean more people leaving universities because it simply being too much money, they would try and go to community college to get a cheaper education. and because of this increase of demand, that means less students would be able to attend because there is simply not enough teachers and subjects to accommodate the increase in demand. But for the bad sides of Prop 30, the sales tax increase. Even though being such a small amount, it still does affect the way people will have to live. And it will affect small businesses because of what they have to buy from the big distributors, and that little 1/4 of a cent adds up. But with a little more economic struggle, comes the good because education will be cheaper and better. With all that said, i fully agree with Proposition 30 and what it is trying to do and fulfill although i have friends with parents that own their own successful small company.

Op-Ed Link

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-kleinbard-tax-cheats-20120907,0,6526020.story

I Am

I am an 19 year old college student that is very content with whatever i get. I am a son and a friend to the greatest people in the world and i am very happy with where i am in life as of now. I am a baseball coach in the spring and a security guard in the fall. The gifts i bring to the classroom is friendliness, open-mind, and a strong wanting to learn.