3Makes the 2012 high-income tax permanent

#Key findings

• The "temporary" top-earner tax has raised more than $104B since 2012, currently $9–10B a year. ^[1]
• It was sold as temporary twice: 7 years in 2012 (Prop 30), then extended 12 years in 2016 (Prop 55). This measure removes the end date (now after 2030). ^[2]
• School spending per student is up 75% after inflation since 2012–13. But fewer than half of 4th graders meet state reading standards, and 37% meet math, and scores haven't recovered from the pandemic. ^[3]
• Only about 40% of the money ends up as new school funding under the Prop 98 formula. The rest frees up the general budget. ^[2]
• The sponsor is the teachers' union, whose members' pay comes from this money: $53.8M of $81.1M raised. The opposition has raised $5,500. ^[4][5]

#Track record

Outcomes since 2012: per-pupil spending rose from below the national average to 16th in the nation. Adjusted for labor costs, it ranks 31st. ^[3]

#Money and conflicts

• Yes $81.1M (Ballotpedia's count of the main committees is $74.8M). No $5,500 (CalTax). ^[5][4]
• CTA opposes Prop 40, the other "tax the rich" measure, because Prop 40's money skips the school-funding formula. Its position follows which measure pays its members. ^[6]

#Does it solve a lasting problem?

• It prevents a $5–15B budget cliff, but it locks in the state's dependence on volatile capital-gains income, the main reason California's budget swings so much. Spending is up sharply while results are flat, and the measure ties no money to outcomes.

#If you vote yes: accountability

Bottom line: The money is already flowing, about $9–10B a year, and it will keep flowing with no end date and no link to student results. ^[1] The real accountability tools are local: your school board decides how its share is spent, in public.

#The rules this money already carries

The 2012 tax created an Education Protection Account (EPA). Each school district and community college gets a share. Under the state Constitution, each district must:

• decide how to spend it in an open session of a public board meeting
• not spend it on administrators' salaries or benefits, or any other administrative cost
• post on its website how much it received and how it spent it
• have its annual independent audit check that the money was spent properly ^[7]

#Who's accountable

• Your school board and community college board. They vote on the EPA spending plan every year, usually in June with the budget.
• The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, who runs the Department of Education. That race (Barrera vs. Shaw) is on this ballot.
• The Legislature and Governor, who decide how much of the rest of the budget goes to schools. Only about 40% of this tax ends up as new school money. ^[2]

#Who to press, and what to ask for

• At your district's June budget meeting, ask: how did the EPA money change reading and math results? Fewer than half of 4th graders meet reading standards, and 37% meet math. ^[3]
• Ask your legislators to tie future increases to published results, such as reading and math by school and per-student spending by school.

#Public records to request (CPRA)

Anyone can file a California Public Records Act request (the state's version of FOIA), with no reason required. Agencies must respond within 10 days, or 24 in unusual cases. ^[8]

To your school district: Under the California Public Records Act (Gov. Code § 7920.000 et seq.), I request the district's Education Protection Account spending plans and year-end accountings for 2020–21 through 2025–26, the board resolutions adopting them, and the sections of the annual independent audit that test EPA spending.