Local teachers voice support of Prop. 26

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- Local support of Proposition 26 was echoed at the state

level Friday, when the California Federation of Teachers announced its

official support of the proposed legislation.

The initiative, which will appear on the March ballot, would allow for

the passage of school bond measures with a simple majority vote.

Currently, school districts must gain 66% -- or two-thirds -- of the

public vote to levy the additional tax.

“At the local level, we’re going to mobilize our membersfor passage of

Prop. 26 and I anticipate at the state level we would be monetarily

funding the pro side,’ said Linda Mook, president of the local

federation.

Newport-Mesa’s Federation of Teachers have discussed the initiative at

length and are backing it, Mook said.

“We discussed our position and we certainly intend to support any major

initiative that is going to allow school districts a better shot at

improving their facilities,” she said. “Our state has not payed attention

to deferred maintenance until it reached a critical point.”

The interest in this initiative is heightened in Newport-Mesa in light of

a citizen committee recommendation this week that the school board place

a $110-million bond before voters sometime this year. That committee

determined the total cost of fixing the district’s deteriorating schools

would be in the neighborhood of $163 million.

The failures of Irvine’s parcel tax and Huntington Beach’s bond measure

had a definite effect on the decision of Newport-Mesa’sfederation.

“Both Irvine and Huntington came in with a whopping majority, but fell

short of two-thirds,” Mook said. “For school districts who put bonds on

the ballot in the future, it will be a much more doable number to get

more than 50%, rather than more than two-thirds.”

During Mook’s discussions with the California Federation of Teachers, the

issue of Newport-Mesa’s potential bond was also raised and that input was

brought back home.

“There was some opposition at the state level that if this passes, then

it opens the door for charter schools to be funded by the public school

district,” Mook said. “The end result was that the overriding need of

adequate facilities for public schools became the primary focus.”

The federation’s official endorsement of a bond measure in Newport-Mesa

will come at the end of the month, Mook said.

The Teachers Federation is the second large organization to announce

support of the initiative at the state and local levels.

Jill Money, president of the Harbor Council PTA, said the PTA executive

board has officially decided to support the legislation and will support

the local bond.