Opinion: Don't pay more for less—numbers don't add up for SJUSD's latest tax

SJUSD building. Image by Wikimedia Commons

Wait a sec—didn't SJUSD ask for (and receive) a whopping $1.15 bn just six months ago? They did, but the school district is at it again, with a parcel tax request that Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility thinks is not warranted. CFR's statement, from their website, below.

The San Jose Unified School District (SJUSD) is asking voters to approve an eight-year extension to the $72 parcel tax approved in 2016 via a mail-in election ending on May 6. The district estimates this would provide $5 million per year in funding for academic programming, college and career preparation, and attracting and retaining teachers and educational staff. 

When the parcel tax was passed, SJUSD enrollment was 30,930. SJUSD spent $487 million in the 2016-17 school year, or a shade over $15,700 per student. By the 2023-24 school year, enrollment had declined 16% to just under 26,000 students and the district spent $630 million, about $24,250 per student. To be fair, adjusting the 2016-17 total spending for inflation makes it roughly equivalent to today’s spending, and works out to about $20,400 per student, or a real spending increase of about 19% per student.

Go Deeper:

• New bond, same old mistakes?
• School board candidate: I'm a CEO; here's how SJ/SF districts can fix their fiscal disasters
• Opinion: Upcoming school tax measures excessive, unnecessary, misguided

Sadly, students have gained nothing from this increased spending. In 2017, 54.2% of SJUSD students met or exceeded the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress standard for English Language Arts and 43.6% met or exceeded the standard for Math. By 2024, those numbers had declined to 49.5% and 40.9% respectively. 

The district hopes that by holding a mail-only special election primarily positively engaged voters will return ballots, allowing a small percentage of district residents to pass the measure.

Read the whole thing here.

Follow Opportunity Now on Twitter @svopportunity

Sign up to receive updates on Opp Now articles

Email Address:

First Name:

Last Name:

We prize letters from our thoughtful readers. Typed on a Smith Corona. Written in longhand on fine stationery. Scribbled on a napkin. Hey, even composed on email. Feel free to send your comments to us at opportunitynowsv@gmail.com or (snail mail) 1590 Calaveras Ave., SJ, CA 95126. Remember to be thoughtful and polite. We will post letters on an irregular basis on the main Opp Now site.