Students Can’t Get to School, Prop. 13 Reform is the Answer

Written By Evolve California

For some students, there are more barriers to school attendance than others. One barrier that comes up often is transportation, accounting for 20% of absences at Emerson Elementary in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). OUSD does not offer school buses for most students due to insufficient funding, even though students might need to travel across town and have no way to do it. Middle and high school students are able to get bus passes, but elementary school students are not. Some school employees are advocating for bus passes for these students, because they cannot get enough funding for official school buses. Schools actually lose money for student absences, and it impedes students’ academic progress as well. Currently, schools receive money based on student attendance rates. This results in schools serving lower income communities, who face more barriers to attendance, receiving less funding. The way the system is set up is inequitable, and needs to be reformed.

This lack of transportation funding can be directly traced back to the passage of Proposition 13 back in 1978, and is one of the reasons why reform is necessary. The solution to this problem is not to give schools money based on student attendance, but to reform Prop. 13 and restore BILLIONS of dollars to our public schools and communities every year, including funding that can be used for school buses. These billions of dollars restored would mean OUSD would not have to scrounge for money for all the programs and opportunities students need to succeed. Attendance is imperative for students to succeed in school, and students start being set up for success as early as elementary school. 

Azucena Rasilla

Evolve California
Next

Prop. 13 Reform Isn’t On Sacramento’s Radar, But It Should Be