For more than four decades, big corporations have not been paying their fair share in taxes, and funding for California’s schools has fallen shamefully behind. California now has the most overcrowded classrooms in the U.S. and some of the worst ratios of students to counselors, librarians and nurses.

Homeowners, in fact, have borne the brunt of this unfair taxation.

Why did this happen? When Prop. 13 passed in 1978 to protect homeowners from erratic increases in their property tax bills, owners of commercial and industrial properties were able to take advantage of the same protections, and avoided paying their fair share for the public schools and local services that benefit all Californians. The result has been chronic disinvestment and underfunding, while corporations and wealthy investors benefit.

“This inequity as a result of corporate greed has had a catastrophic impact on our schools and communities, felt disproportionately in communities of color,” says CTA President E. Toby Boyd. Proposition 15 on the November ballot would revoke Prop. 13’s protection of business properties. Small business properties would be exempted, along with multiunit housing properties and agricultural land. All other business properties would be reassessed to current market value at least every three years. Voting Yes on Prop. 15 will:

• Reclaim $12 billion per year to fund world-class K-12 schools, community colleges and local communities.
• Close commercial property tax loopholes that corporations and wealthy investors use to avoid paying their fair share of property taxes. • Protect all homeowners and renters by maintaining tax protections for all residential property.
• Level the playing field for all the businesses that already pay their fair share.
• Ensure strict accountability so that money goes directly to our schools and communities.
• Provide one of the largest tax incentives in a generation to spur new investment in small businesses.

Prop. 15 ensures that our schools and communities come first — with the resources to educate all students and fund essential public services to support our families.

There has never been a more critical time to reinstate equal opportunity as we chart a path forward to a stronger economic future for women and communities of color, and a California where Black Lives Matter and our systems are just. Pass Prop. 16 to:

• Ensure we can provide opportunity for good jobs, good wages, and quality schools for everyone
• Give everyone — no matter their racial or gender identity, or sexual orientation — an equal shot at success
• Start to fix wage discrimination (in 2020, women in California still earn only 80 cents for every dollar a man earns; women of color make significantly less)

Too many resources are invested in the lucrative prison-industrial complex that should instead be spent on rehabilitative/restorative programs in public schools. Prop. 20 adds crimes to the list of violent felonies banning early parole; recategorizes certain theft and fraud crimes from misdemeanor to felony; and requires DNA collection for certain misdemeanors. Join California educators to ensure social and racial justice permeate our governmental systems and structures. Our students and communities deserve an equal opportunity and fair opportunity.

Uber, Lyft and Doordash wrote Prop. 22 and paid to put it on the ballot for one reason: to boost their profits by continuing to unfairly deny their drivers wages, sick leave, workers’ compensation and unemployment. It would allow these and similar companies to circumvent the law requiring them to treat their workers as employees rather than contractors. Proponents say Prop. 22 is about your safety, but it actually weakens safety measures for riders and drivers. If companies truly wanted to help their drivers and the public, they’d be making sure workers have protective gloves, masks and equipment right now. Uber and Lyft also wrote in legal exemptions that eliminate required sexual harassment trainings and take away the right of drivers to file a sexual harassment claim.

Prop. 25 will replace a money bail system that unfairly grants freedom only to those who can afford it, including dangerous offenders, with a system that prioritizes public safety and justice. Supporting Prop. 25 means replacing a system that criminalizes poverty and race with an unbiased assessment of each person’s individual risk to public safety. The money bail system hits taxpayers where it hurts, wasting $5 million dollars every single day just to keep nearly 50,000 people accused of low-level crimes locked up — simply because they can’t afford to post bail.