☆ Does SJ Unified really need another tax? And for "core academic programs"?
SJUSD proposes to extend its $72 parcel tax—originally touted as temporary back in 2016—to "maintain and improve" English, math, and science programming. But Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association's president Mark Hinkle questions if the tax even makes sense, with the district's dropping enrollment, failing academic standards—and how they just got $1.15B from taxpayers in November. An Opp Now exclusive.
Hold on to your wallet — because here they come again.
Just last November, San Jose Unified School District raised our taxes to pay for a bond-debt measure of over One Billion Dollars.
Now, with this latest “temporary” parcel tax, SJUSD claims they need to impose more taxes to “support core academic programs…”
Let’s look at the proportion of students failing in two core subjects (school year 2023–24):
Students failing English literacy standards: 50.47%
Students failing math literacy standards: 59.14%
More than half the district’s children didn’t meet those standards!
SJUSD spends $20,524 /student per year yet keeps increasing the percentage of students failing to meet English or math standards!
Perhaps that’s why enrollment declined by 4,635 students from the 2018–19 school year to 2022–23.
Should we reward SJUSD for continuing to fail our students? Have they earned this tax increase by improving test scores? Residents might consider these questions as they think through Measure A.
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