Los Angeles voters last week struck down a proposed tax hike that would have put millions of dollars into the city’s school system, months after thousands of teachers went on strike for more school resources.
Measure EE asked voters to authorize the Los Angeles Unified school district to levy an annual parcel tax—a type of property tax based on units of property—for 12 years at the rate of 16 cents per square foot of building improvements. District officials estimated that the tax would raise $500 million a year, and the money would go into the district’s general fund to be used for instructional and support services.
The district planned to use the money to help meet the terms of the deal it made with union leaders to end the six-day teachers’ strike in January. The cash-strapped district had agreed to reduce class sizes, raise teacher salaries, and hire more school nurses, librarians, and counselors.
The defeat was a blow to both the district, which has projected a long-term funding shortfall, and the teachers’ union, which had hoped that the support shown by the community during the teacher strike would translate into support at the polls.
