The folks over at the Prop. 6 campaign sent this over. The wording in the initiative is pretty clear that it's not supposed to affect education funding. I'm glad to see they were thinking about schools when they crafted this measure. As someone who's worked in four different schools, I think it's important for students to be safe and learning. The teachers unions only complain when the initiative is non-liberal, of course. It doesn't matter to them whether it actually affects students or the average teacher.

Anybody remember Prop. 71, the stem cell bonds? According to the official voter information guide published by the Secretary of State's office, it costs $200 million per year to pay off those bonds. Where were the unions complaining about the $200 milion lost to K-12 schools and community colleges? Silence. They only scream about losing education funding as a facade to block measures that oppose their leftist agendas. They should be consistent. Either they should have yelled and screamed about both 71 and 6, or they should have stayed neutral on both measures.

The Campaign for the Yes on Proposition 6-the Safe Neighborhoods Act would like to make sure parents, teachers and unions like the California Teachers Federation understand that language contained within Proposition 6 protects K-14 public school funding:

Section 13. Education Funding Guarantee: No provision within this act shall be construed to alter the calculation of the minimum state obligations under Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, nor diminish the actual state and local support for K-14 schools required by law except as authorized by the Constitution.

The authors of Proposition 6 strongly support public education for children and they are as eager as the opposition to see our students achieve success in school and beyond. The authors also believe California students deserve a safe school environment, and at-risk students who have been lured into gangs deserve a second chance. That's why Proposition 6 invests as heavily into prevention and intervention as it does suppression - to keep our school students safe and to give at-risk kids a fair shake.

We hope the clear language of Section 13 of Proposition 6 puts to rest the erroneous argument that the measure will take away money from education.