Four years ago, Californians enacted Proposition 30, a bold, progressive tax measure that has generated over $30 billion and saved California’s public schools from the brink of disaster.
When it was passed in 2012, Prop 30 was considered an emergency ballot measure, meant to salvage our schools and protect our students and teachers. But with the proposition set to expire, those important protections are in danger.
On this year’s ballot is Proposition 55, which would extend Prop 30’s income tax increase on the wealthiest two percent in the state, while allowing Prop 30’s sales tax increase to expire as scheduled: 89 percent of the revenue will go to K-12 education, with the remainder going to community colleges and health care programs. The crucial measure also contains language that will allow local school boards to allocate revenue as they see fit to address their community’s needs.
Prop 55 would directly affect millions of Californians — and, as Jews, we have an obligation to help ensure its passage. I am proud to know that Bend the Arc, my home as a Jewish activist, has endorsed Prop 55 in its statewide voter guide.
My own connection to progressive tax reform began in 2011, when I was laid off from my first two public education teaching jobs — one at the pre-K level and one at the university level. I saw just how important access to quality education is for young people, no matter their age, and I wanted to get involved and find a way to help remedy the situation.
However, it was through my Jewish identity that I discovered how I could make a meaningful impact in California. I was part of the Jeremiah Fellowship, Bend the Arc’s young adult leadership program, during the campaign for Prop 30. Our collective effort worked because we were able to make tax reform — a complex, dry issue — something personal, by showing voters how funding cuts to education and health care would negatively impact their own lives and their communities.
Initially, I was nervous to share my own story. My personal struggle with the intersection of class and my Jewish identity, having been laid off from my public education jobs, and my lack of experience in activism all made me worry that I would not be taken seriously as a leader in the Prop 30 campaign.
However, through dozens of house meetings, hours of phone banking, and countless conversations, I found my voice as a Jewish activist with Bend the Arc, and discovered the vast organizing power of our community to take on issues that reflect our values, like progressive taxation and economic inequality.
As a child of parents who were not formally educated, it was through my interactions with Judaism and my family’s Jewish values that I learned the importance of being inquisitive and developed a passion for learning. I grew to understand the core importance of education as a pillar of the Jewish tradition. These values were put into action in my life — as in the lives of so many children — through public schooling. The way we value, support and sustain our public education system is a direct extension of our Jewish values.
There are so many issues plaguing our society today. But I believe that economic justice intersects with every other issue we face — institutional racism, access to health care, criminal justice reform, education funding. A progressive tax code is not only a central component of these issues, it is a reflection of our moral values and obligations as Jews and as Americans. The passage of Prop 30 was an important step for our state in progressive tax reform, and education and healthcare funding. Come November, we should all do our part and to pass Prop 55 and help ensure a stronger, more just California.
Johana Finetti is a volunteer leader with Bend the Arc, and the interim director of Children’s After School Arts. She lives in San Francisco.