Voters Express their Support of Improving Education and Teacher Salaries
Recent polls suggest that the majority of voters want to improve the educational system in tangible ways. 64 percent of voters stated that they are willing to vote yes on proposition 13 which will provide 15 billion dollars to, “underwrite the costs of school district, community college and higher education construction projects.” Along the same lines, 55 percent of voters expressed their approval of an increase of commercial property taxes in order to allocate extra funding to schools and local/city governments.
“Three-quarters of voters said they were strongly or somewhat in favor of raising teacher salaries — for all teachers, new teachers and teachers in subjects facing shortages. Low pay was the primary reason fewer voters said they would definitely or probably encourage young people to become teachers. The number fell from 71 percent in 2016 to 56 percent this year.”
Further, voters stated that they wanted to see more teachers of color and high school courses on ethics, racism, social justice, etc. Due to an increase of school shootings, voters expressed their concern of needing to “reduce gun violence in local schools, expanding mental health care services and prohibiting the sale and ownership of assault rifles and other high-capacity firearms.”
When asked which issues are of most concern, the top three included were the reduction of gun violence, affordable college, and decreasing the teacher shortage.
