BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dennis R. Bullock, candidate for the 43rd Assembly District, today officially unveiled his innovative education funding policy prescription for California.
“One of our biggest problems in primary and secondary education—at all levels—is a perpetual dearth of proper funding. At a statewide level, the problem is uneven; school districts in well-off areas with high property values and comparative wealth are under much less pressure than school districts in poorer communities. Indeed, lower income school districts often lack the most basic tools to facilitate and enhance effective learning,” says Bullock.
“At the same time, many California corporations are literally awash in accumulated wealth,” continues Bullock. “Why not offer a way to connect this great, accumulated wealth with our greatest educational needs, in a voluntary way? What if we offered tax relief on present earnings to corporations in exchange for an opportunity to give back and invest in the Golden State's future: its children and their education?”
Bullock’s policy prescription on education funding employs a voluntary, tax-incentivized plan to induce California’s large corporations to fulfill individual school districts’ “lists of need.” Each corporation would choose a school district to help fund, but would also be automatically paired with a second, low-income school district and be required to fulfill that district’s “list of need” as well.
“Lists of need” would be produced from school to school, and compiled by local school boards, in ranked order of need from critical items to “would be nice to have.” The California State Board of Education and the California Department of Education would develop a task force to review the lists, ranking districts based upon not only the nature of requests/need, but upon financial needs as well. Thus, “lists of need” would be bottom-up and organic—and unique to each district.
Tax incentives would be graduated according to the level of financial participation. The entire program would be sunsetted, after a three-year run for instance. It is intended to be a “shot in the arm,” rather than a way for the state to become dependent on corporations for education funding. State and local governments would also be prohibited from ever decreasing school funding before, during or at the conclusion of the program. The state could never abandon or diminish its role in educating children and young adults.
“I recognize the hard work the California State Legislature has put in to deal with education funding issues, such as the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) for K-12 schools, to shore up funding inequities—I applaud such efforts! My plan is a way to enhance these efforts, and not detract from something like the LCFF,” adds Bullock.
More detail on Bullock’s education funding proposal can be found here. The policy prescription is part of Bullock’s overall campaign platform titled Water and the Four Big E’s located on Bullock’s website, votebullock.com. Bullock is also on Facebook and Twitter.
