Letters to the Editor, Opinions

Letter to the Editor: Why you should vote YES on Prop. 30

Why you should vote YES on Prop. 30
A staff editorial in the Daily 49er recently asserted that students would easily come to the conclusion that a “yes” on Proposition 30 is the right way to vote. “Just hearing the words ‘$250 million’ [in cuts for the Cal State University system] and ‘higher tuition’ are more than enough to likely sway student votes.” However, it seems to me that it might be helpful to offer more than a few words to convince students – and hopefully students’ parents, relatives and friends – to vote “yes” on Prop. 30.

Voting “yes” on Prop. 30 is in your self-interest. You will receive a tuition rebate of $498 and there will be no additional cuts to your classes and programs. As President F. King Alexander explained in a press conference, a “no” on Prop. 30 would mean a $21 million cut to our campus alone, which would translate to about 3,000 fewer students in the spring and 2,000 fewer classes. Right now, we have approximately 13,000 classes, so we’re talking about a 15 percent cut. Obviously, that would make getting the classes you need and graduating on time more difficult.

A “yes” on Prop. 30 is also good for Long Beach and for California. Every dollar in education produces about four dollars in taxable income for the state, so this is investment rather than spending. In addition, the increase in income tax to fund Prop. 30 would only affect individuals making more than $250,000 or families making more than $500,000 – and even that is only for seven years. The city of Long Beach estimates that a “no” on Prop. 30 would mean a loss of about $75 million, which would hit businesses here hard.

You may be hearing that Prop. 38 is better for California than Prop. 30. However, this propaganda leaves out one important detail. Prop. 38 is only concerned with K-12, i.e., it would leave the CSU system and the community colleges with the proposed cuts. Only Prop. 30 addresses the situation at California universities such as ours.

So for all of these reasons, I believe it is important that students come out on Nov. 6 to vote “yes” on Prop. 30. If you can use some of these arguments to convince your parents, relatives and friends to vote the same, even better – it’s in all of our interests.

Norbert Schürer is an English professor at Cal State Long Beach.
This story was also signed by: Luis Arroyo, Chicana and Latina studies; Pamela Ashe, Counseling and Psychological Services; Chris Burnett, journalism; Sam Coleman, social work; Doug Domingo-Forasté, classics; Deborah Hamm, teacher education; Elizabeth Hoffmann, English; Neil Hultgren, English; Unna Lassiter, geography; Dori Levy, dance; Joanne Tortorici Luna, advanced studies in education and counseling; and Teri Yamada, comparative world literature and classics.

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