Parents can help where state money cannot

It has taken Arnold Schwarzenegger and Warren E. Buffett to reveal

once again how California’s sacred Proposition 13 has taken food from

the mouths of children and has caused children to be shortchanged in

their education and health care.

Buffett, as you may recall, mentioned that the state’s property

taxes were too low. Sensing trouble, Arnold distanced himself from

the comment, but the damage was done.

So to Buffett and anyone else who believes that Proposition 13 has

ruined the lives of our children, I have to ask: If Proposition 13 is

so devastating, how did Gov. Gray Davis wind up starting his

administration with a $10-billion surplus?

Over the past 25 years, our lazy legislators and a series of

governors failed to adjust to the loss of Proposition 13 money. And

when they did take action, the panicked met the challenge with the

knee-jerk reaction of legislators everywhere -- they raised taxes.

We’re now paying a higher percentage of income tax and higher

registration fees on our cars, as well as other assorted levies,

fines and fees because they have not learned how to do what every

business in the same situation would do -- they have not learned how

to cut spending.

Cutting spending is not easy -- someone always gets hurt, and a

political opponent is likely to spin it against you, saying that you

kicked kids out of preschool or forced babies to live without proper

health coverage. There is no spending cut that satisfies everyone.

But looking at the record of our state government, there does not

seem to be any pain associated with a new tax, preferably on people

who have worked hard to achieve something and on businesses.

Schwarzenegger and candidate Peter Ueberroth have sensed that a

key to the state’s salvation is to stop chasing business out of the

state. Nevada has learned, for example, how to attract business, even

business not associated with the gaming industry.

Our business-unfriendly state has succeeded in exporting huge

numbers of movie industry jobs to other states and Canada, and other

industries are relocating because of the anti-business atmosphere.

Bringing businesses back to create jobs is crucial to our short and

long-term fiscal health.

If the health and education of our children is suffering, it’s not

because of Proposition 13, but because our leaders have failed to

lead. Any family facing the kind of cuts presented by Proposition 13

would have done what Sacramento did not do -- they would have cut

back. They would have canceled the cable TV service, stopped eating

out, taken less expensive vacations and done whatever it took to keep

the household intact.

But that’s a scenario in which people are playing with their own

money. In Sacramento, legislators play with our money -- not theirs

-- and that makes a big difference in the decisions they make.

If the health and education of our children is suffering, another

reason is the failure of parents to reign in their remote-control

parenting habits. Instead of making sure that kids learn how to eat

right and get enough exercise instead of watch TV and play video

games, they’ve left it up to an overburdened army of teachers.

Instead of making time each night to help kids with their

schoolwork, and thereby reinforcing its importance in the home, they

come home tired, having given so much of their energy to their

employer that they have nothing left to give to their family. Today,

in about 70% of the two-parent homes with school-age children, both

parents work. Today, teachers need help from parents at home.

On Sept. 2, parents all over Newport-Mesa have a chance to start

fresh. School is soon back in session and the cleaning that is

produced by this new broom can mean the difference between success

and failure.

Parents, honor thy teacher. Make a little time each night to work

with your child. This will help your child and give the teacher some

badly needed support.

Honor thy teacher by standing by him or her in the classroom; that

is, show your child that you and the teacher are on the same page,

that you are an unbreakable partnership. And if you do have any

disagreements with a teacher, you will be sure to express them to the

teacher in private, never in front of the student.

Most of all, parents and legislators and anyone else, you can

honor thy teacher by stopping the incessant whining about the

25-year-old effects of Proposition 13. The noise you make is old,

irritating and unproductive. Proposition 13 was enacted 25 years ago

-- get over it.

Once you do, you’ll have figured out something even a billionaire

can’t understand.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.