Prop. 13 Exposed to be Unjust… Again

Proposition 13 directly led to a widening wealth gap, a severe housing shortage, and decades of severe underfunding for public schools in California. Under the guise of protecting homeowners, Prop. 13 drew on clear xenophobic and racist overtones which are glaringly evident in its disproportionate impact on low-income communities of color today. Families of color have been barred, through redlining, exclusionary zoning, and racism, from building the same kind of intergenerational wealth that white families have acquired through Prop. 13; when considered in the context of parcel tax school funding formulas, this is disastrous and unjust for students in low-income communities. In the two decades following Prop. 13, California fell from fifth to 47th in per-student funding. That should say enough.

In the face of this unjust legacy, it's clear that the time to reform Prop. 13 is now. We must make wealthy commercial property and corporations owners pay the property taxes that they have been owing for over 40 years. Fully-funding our public schools cannot be dependent on parcel taxes or an unpredictable budget surplus; Prop. 13 reform that prioritizes public schools and communities is absolutely necessary to securing the futures of our students. In conversations of serious progressive change for our education system, Prop. 13 reform should always be at the top of the list.

Andrew Reed / Ed Source

California Prop. 13’s 'unjust legacy' detailed in critical study

John Fensterwald, EdSource | 6/22/2022