Supporters of Measures H and I, two initiatives on Tuesday’s ballot that would dedicate money to music, theater and foreign language in schools, held a news conference Wednesday to urge residents to vote yes.
Standing in front of Santa Barbara Junior High School, the supporters said the initiatives are vital for ensuring that students receive a well-rounded education, especially in light of a brewing storm at the state level that could result in more draconian cuts to local schools.
Measure H pertains to residents living within the seventh-through-12th grade district, or secondary district, which stretches from Goleta to Montecito. At $23 annually per parcel, it would bring more music and foreign language to the schools, as well as restore the small class sizes in ninth-grade math that recently were eliminated in a round of budget cuts by the school board.
Measure I pertains only to those living in the elementary district, which exists within the boundaries of the city of Santa Barbara. At $27 annually per parcel, it would allow the district to expand its music program to include grades kindergarten through third grade.
The taxes — which need the support of two-thirds of the voters to pass — would be collected for four years. Seniors age 65 or older would be eligible for an exemption. The measures would generate about $520,000 annually for the elementary district and about $1.1 million a year for the secondary district.
Those in attendance on Wednesday included Rod Lathim, a local filmmaker who said he has benefited tremendously from the kind of arts curriculum that Measures H and I would provide.
“I’m a product of Santa Barbara public schools, and I really can say that I owe a huge debt of gratitude to teachers I had,” he said. “Someone said to me the other day, ‘Why should I vote for this measure? I don’t have any kids. Why bother?’ And I said, ‘Please, this is a no-brainer.’ I don’t have kids either. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see our youth of today not go on and be strong leaders.”
Also speaking in favor of the measures was League of Women Voters of Santa Barbara President Linda Phillips, who happens to be the mother of Glen Phillips, a San Marcos High graduate and the leader of the famous rock band Toad The Wet Sprocket.
“When my children were in the high school here … they profited from all of the programs that this supports,” she said. “This will affect your children, your grandchildren, your neighbors’ children and the people who take care of you.”
Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Chairman Salud Carbajal said that as a father of an 8-year-old at Roosevelt Elementary, he has a stake in helping get the measures passed, especially in light of how California’s schools are among the worst funded in the nation.
“We ought to be ashamed of that,” he said. “We need to change it.”
The only organized opponents to Measure H are a group of five neighbors who live near Dos Pueblos High. Measure I has no organized opposition.
Led by Goleta resident Rich Foster, the Measure H opponents argue that the district was not a good steward of the tax dollars gathered for a facilities bond passed in 2000. For instance, he said, the district dedicated far less money than promised to building new classrooms and, in Foster’s view, too much money into athletic facilities, such as new swimming pools at each of the three high schools.
Lynn Rodriguez, a board member of the Santa Barbara Education Foundation, which is spearheading the campaign, has countered that Foster fails to mention that the district was blindsided by a lawsuit that exposed its deficiencies in complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. As a result, she said, the district spent far more bond money than was anticipated on bringing the district into compliance.
Noozhawk staff writer Rob Kuznia can be reached at rkuznia@noozhawk.com.
