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Blog #9 FINAL INFOGRAPHIC

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BLOG POST #8 CIVIC ACTION ASSESSMENT OF ISSUE

Although I did not volunteer for my issue this semester, I was civically engaged in Education reform last year. During the Summer of 2019 I was curious about how our school system was funded. I asked my mom (a principal) about how her school received money. After learning how the government rationales how to divide its money to each school, I asked my mom what I could do to support education reform. She suggested I write to our district representative Mark DeSaulnier about educations funding on the upcoming Federal Budget. After writing to him, he replied to me in the letter attached below. In the future I plan to continue using my voice to help educate others, and use my vote to put in place laws that support education reform.

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BLOG POST #7: LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE ACTION

H.R. 8820: PASS Act

Introduced on November 24, 2020

The Bill originated in the House of Representatives and has not been voted on yet.

The Bill will extend relief funding to Federal student loaners.

The Bill was sponsored by Democrats, which should help it pass in the House, although it may fail in the Senate.

The Bill was assigned to the Education and Labor committee.

I would encourage my representative to vote yes on this bill because during the pandemic students in debt have been struggling to pay off their loans.

U.S. Department of Education

“ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.” 

The Departments mission statement is important to education reform because it states many of the same goals as education reform, like ensuring equal access to education.

Betsy DeVos is the current Secretary of Education and head of the U.S. Department of Education. Although she says that she is both qualified for the position, she is just a political appointment. She has little experience in education (she was a teacher and has no degree in education), and almost none is public education. Her lack of experience and misguided views have prevented the education system from improving.

Almost all of the 264 programs are relevant to education reform because education has its own department, rather that being a subsection of another department.

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BLOG POST #6: CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION ASSESSMENT

Proposition 15: Taxes on Commercial Property

Summary

Prop 15 is a bill that if passed would raise commercial property taxes, with the target of the taxes being large businesses. The Prop would take away many of the protections given to corporations from Prop 13. The tax proceeds would be given to local government and local schools.

Fiscal Impact

Prop 15 would produce about $6.5 to $11.5 billion per year in additional property tax revenues for local services. Around 60% would go to local government, with the other 40% going towards local schools.

Election Results

California voters voted no on Prop 15. I am not surprised at this result, since I thought it would be a toss up. 

Proposition Sponsors, Interest Group Endorsements, and Financial Backers

The Proposition is backed mostly by groups that would benefit from the additional tax revenue, including the California Teachers Association, Parent Teachers Association (PTA) of California, and California State Firefighters Association. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and two public employee unions, and campaign committees behind Yes on Prop. 15 raised $48.5 million. Voters have to realize that many of those backing the Proposition are in favorable conditions if it passes.

Pros

Provides up to $11.5 billion in new revenue for schools and communities.

Small businesses are given tax breaks, which helps grow the economy.

The top 10% of businesses will give 90% of the income.

Homeowners, renters, and farms maintain protection under Prop 13.

Cons

Prop 15 would result in the largest tax increase in California history.

It will be harder to start a small business.

The Prop would have a huge cost to administer.

The additional taxes would result in price raises for consumers.

My Opinion

Personally, I would have voted yes on Prop 15. With that being said, I am more leaning yes than giving a confident yes, as the opposing argument has some valid points. I talked to one landlord, who said that Prop 15 could potentially force him to raise rent on multiple of his properties, which some of the tenants may have a hard time paying. 

Pre-Election Polling

It was interesting to me that 13 of the 14 Pre-Election polls had Prop 15 passing.

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Blog Post #4: Election 2020 Presidential Candidates Assessment

Donald Trump (Republican)

Candidate View

President Trump believes that every parent should be able to choose where their child is educated. He opposes Common Core standards, and believes education should be controlled locally. The President also supports re-allocation of current school funding in order to improve education, although he has also passed legislature to give some areas of education higher funding.

My Opinion

I do not share much in common with President trumps views on education. I believe that all children should have fully informed educations, which local control of education, and the abolishment of Common Core could prevent.

Party Alignment

The Republican party's view on education is very similar to President Trumps.

Joe Biden (Democrat)

Candidate View

Vice President Biden wants to improve our school system by giving teachers more competitive pay, meaning there will be more good educators. He also wants to ensure that every child has fair access to quality education, no matter their race, sex, or livelihood. Biden wants to add additional support for different career paths beyond high school.

My Opinion

I agree with much of what former vice President Biden supports. My only concerns are over how affordable the plan is.

Party Alignment

The Democratic party supports most of the same things Joe Biden does.

Jo Jorgensen

Candidate View

Jo Jorgensen wants to make education more flexible and affordable. She wants more schooling options for families, from cyberschools to parochial schools. She believes this will allow families to escape poor education in their area if they feel it is necessary. She also wants to make college more accessible to more students, who may normally be limited due to expensive textbooks and classes.

My Opinion

I think that Jorgensen has some really interesting ideas around education worth exploring. I wouldn’t say I support her views, but I don’t disagree with them either. I just think the system she would propose would need to be explained in more depth before I formed a solid opinion.

Party Alignment

The Libertarian party did not have any information on education reform on their platform.

Gloria La Riva

Candidate View

Gloria La Riva did not have any information on Education on her website. I reached out to her to ask for information.

Roque Guerra

Candidate View

Roque Guerra wants to close the gap between the education of children raised in poverty and those in nicer communities. He wants to develop a choice-driven public school system. He also wants to increase public service among the youth by incentivizing it. 

My Opinion

Much like my opinion on  Jo Jorgensen's stance on education, I think that Guerra has some interesting ideas that I would be interested to hear more about. I would want to know more about his plan, like how to incentivize public service, before forming an opinion.

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Blog Post #5: POLITICAL INTEREST GROUPS AND PACS ASSESSMENT

National Education Association

The National Education Association (NEA) was created to improve public education in the United States.

Interest Group Beliefs

The NEA want to get families involved with their children’s education, and give them a bigger voice on how to improve that education. The association believes all students deserve the right to attend a fully funded school, with programs and curriculum that allows the to excel in their adult life. The NEA aims to increase fair pay and benefits so that good teachers can come to schools and stay in their communities. They also wish to provide safe workplaces for school employees. They offer a library of resources to teachers to improve their ability to educate their students.

The NEA supports HR 2315 and S 1172 which are both bills to require full funding of ESEA Title I, Part A and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The NEA is the largest education association, and is located all over the Untied States. Their annual meeting will be in Denver in 2021. 

There are volunteer opportunities, but you must become a member of the organization in order to see them on their website.

The organization has more than 3 million members across 14,000 communities, which is almost a full percent of the United States.

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BLOG POST #3: POLITICAL PARTY ACTION

Republican Party

Party Position

The Republican Party strongly believes in freedom in education. They support parents raising their children with their beliefs if they wish, because Republicans believe it is a constitutional right. They also do not support Common Core standards set by states. The party believes that rather than giving more money to education, we should use the money more effectively to improve education. 

My Opinion

Although I believe parents should have some say in their children's education, I disagree with getting rid of Common Core standards. These standards are crucial for giving everyone a complete and informative education. I also don’t agree that the problem is education spending rather than their budget. 

Democrat Party

Party Position

The Democratic Party advocates for equality in education. They want any child, no matter where they live, or how they look or identify, to have equal access to a quality K-12 education. They also aim to provide Pre-K education in order to give kids a stronger educational foundation. The Party is committed to closing the inequality gap between primarily white school districts and non-white school districts, which typically have $23 billion more in funding. They support different educational paths for different areas of need, like special education, and support for multiple career paths. They also want to make higher education more accessible for more students.

My Opinion

I agree with the majority of the Democratic Party's views on education. My main disputes with the party come more with the realistic expectations our country can have for the reformation of education. I agree that all children need to have equal access to quality education. Higher education should also be far more accessible to more students. 

Libertarian Party

Party Position

The Libertarian Party did not have an official statement on education reform. They did however state that they believe parents have the right to raise their own children to their beliefs.

My Opinion

I have reached out to the party for further comment.

Green Party

Party Position

The Green Party’s main focus in education, is eliminating discrimination within our education system. They want there to be more diversity among teachers, along with increased equity training. The Party wants teachers to be given more freedom to stray from Common Core aligned material, since they believe it neglects the contributions and struggled of non-white races. 

My Opinion

I agree with the Green Party’s focus on eliminating discrimination in our school systems. I believe that making sure teachers are well educated is also very important. Good teachers, and diversity among teachers provide a foundation to bring equality to the U.S. school system. I am unsure over whether I agree with their stand on Common Core Standards; on one hand, in Ethnic Studies I have been learning about how current school curriculum doesn’t include much non-white history, but I also believe that Common Core Standards are essential to provide an equal education across different communities.

Peace and Freedom Party

Party Position

The Peace and Freedom Party wants students to learn about the history and struggles of all ethnic backgrounds. They want to provide more free education, including Pre-K and Graduate school. The party wants to cancel all existing student debt. They want to restore cutbacks in education, along with fully funding Special Education. 

My Opinion

On paper, the party has what I believe is what education would be like in a perfect world. Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world, and the reality of such a reformation within education is near impossible without having harsh repercussions in other issues. Although I am intrigued by the ideals offered by the party, until they offer a plan to complete such a large transformation I can’t yet support it.

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BLOG POST #1: CONCEPTUALIZING THE ISSUE AND ASSESSING TYPES OF ACTION

1. What civic action issue did you choose and why?

I chose education reform because it is a topic that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. I grew up going to budgeting meetings with my mom for the LAFSD so I always was aware of how schools budgets worked. My mom then started to tell me about how school budgets and issues may drastically differ even just a few cities away.

2. Describe the issue in your own words and how it relates to government.

Education across the U.S. have varying levels of quality and wide spread inequity. Many of the issues are due to money and the budgets given to them by the government based on the federal budget each year.

3. What type of action do you think needs to be taken to address this issue?

There should be more funding towards education, especially in lower income areas. There also needs to be more awareness on the issue.