Prop 13

California's education system is in dire need of reform, providing adequate funding to education has been a problem for decades. The “Golden Moment” in California took place in the mid twentieth century. During the governorship of Pat Brown, a Master Plan for higher education was adopted. This plan passed in 1960, it created a three tier system and aimed at providing universal access to higher education for all Californians. It was an innovative system that brought prestige to the state and helped manage the needs of the rapidly growing state population. The growth in population was fueled by the idea that California was the land of milk and honey but this influx caused property values to rise and consequently property taxes were hiked. California voters have the ability to use the initiative process to implement policy. While this is a unique aspect that allows Californians direct control in governance, it can make it difficult for the state government to provide enough funding. Among the legislation pushed by voters has been Proposition 13, it continues to have long lasting effects that impact tax revenue and budgetary decisions.

Prop 13 has been labeled as the main cause for the education systems woes, because it decreased property taxes and pushed funding responsibility for education to the state level instead of local governments. Its reform has been demanded on several occasions, it has even been referred to as an “unmitigated disaster”.(Bohnett 2010) Several other factors have had a negative impact on the California higher education system. For instance the reliance on volatile tax sources have created a roller coaster of ups and downs in funding. The initiative process has also allowed voters to delegate certain taxes for...

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...t severely reduced the amount of property taxes collected and thus diminished funding for California's education system. Although, voters intended to reduce state government interference in local governance, the proposition had the opposite effect. The shortfall in tax revenue made it necessary for the State to provide aid to local governments to keep public safety, welfare programs, and education programs running. Property tax revenue at the county level decreased from thirty-three percent to only twelve percent after the implementation of Proposition 13.(Chapman 1998) The allotment of aid means that the state has greater control over how money is allocated and spent, while cities were able to transfer lost revenue onto residents through service fees, counties had to turn to state and federal funding to provide for public safety and public assistance programs.