OPINION — Don’t be fooled. Proposition 320 is an attack on public education. It applies only to public district schools, not to charter schools or private schools accepting tax-funded vouchers.
Referred to the ballot by the Republican majority in the State Legislature, Prop 320 would take away local control and tie school boards in knots by requiring them to spend 60 percent of their dollars on “direct instructional expenses,” without defining that term for voters.
While Prop 320 might sound reasonable, it’s not. It only sounds reasonable until we realize Prop. 320 could force cuts to any or all of the following: school safety measures; sports programs; art, music, theater; transportation; food service; building maintenance and repairs; utilities; social workers and counselors; custodians; libraries and technology; groundskeeping; special education services; and administration. That’s a long list, and many of these expenses are fixed costs.
