California Calls’ massive push to motivate new and occasional voters to go to the polls in November 2012 resulted in the voter surge that helped to pass Prop 30. Prop 30 has gone on to temporarily end budget cuts to education for the first time in years and restored $6 billion in funding.
For the last few years, California Calls has monitored how Prop 30 funds are being spent. In the spring of 2013, our grassroots leaders surveyed over 93,000 voters on how new tax dollars should be distributed to improve K-12 education. 83% of the voters we talked to supported the Local Control Funding Formula – the new system that California uses to distribute funding to students with the most need.
Since then, California Calls member organizations in 7 counties organized students and parents to advocate for their local schools to ensure the additional funds are used for schools in their community.
In Los Angeles, Inner City Struggle and Community Coalition mobilized students, parents and community members to win the adoption of the Student Needs Index, a new tool to determine high-need schools based on research that includes academic outcomes and neighborhood conditions. Find out more.
Grassroots leaders from Alliance San Diego, Central Coast Alliance United for Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), Congregations Organizing for Prophetic Engagement (COPE), Knott’s Family Agency, Dolores Huerta Foundation also increased parental engagement and won more funding for the schools in their communities.
