Schools & Communities First Initiative supporters hold rally in Salinas

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) Schools and communities in dire need of funding are looking to a ballot initiative that would raise $12 billion by hiking property taxes on California's largest corporations.

It is part of the Schools and Communities First Initiative, which organizers want to get onto the November ballot in 2020. Teachers, labor leaders and civic officials took to the stump on Tuesday to rally for the cause educators there say is an urgent need.

"In our district, we are one of the lowest paid, as far as a salary schedule for teachers, it is one of the lower paid districts," said Nelly Vaquera-Boggs, the president of the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers.

Vaquera-Boggs, who works as a middle school teacher in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, says they need money for better services at schools, especially for nurses, counselors and teachers.

Having funds for better salaries will also help attract and retain quality teachers, who have a hard time paying for housing in Santa Cruz County.

"We want teachers to set roots in their communities because students enjoy having that connection with their teacher," said Vaquera-Boggs.

"Our endorsers continue to grow daily," said Kati Bassler, the president of the Salinas Valley Federation of Teachers.

The Schools and Communities First Initiative is an effort to raise billions for education and public services funding. Organizers say if passed, the statewide initiative would send at least $100 million to Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties every year.

The money would come from an increase in property taxes on large companies. Speakers at the rally claim Proposition 13, which froze property tax values to a 1976 assessed value level, unfairly advantages large companies.

"Major corporations such as Disneyland, Chevron… they are paying the property taxes at 1970s rates," said Alicia Metters, the vice president of SEIU 521 Region 2. "So
we know that corporations are much more able to pay more taxes than our homeowners are."

The initiative would assess commercial and industrial property at fair market values, but it would not impact small businesses or residential property and agricultural lands.

Organizers need roughly a million signatures yet by April 14 to get the Schools and Communities First Initiative on the ballot for November 2020.