Oakland school board reflects on Measure L defeat

MeasureL

In their first meeting since the November election, Oakland’s school board members reflected somberly on the near-passage of Measure L, the $195 property tax that would have raised $20 million per year for ten years, increasing salaries for school employees.

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One week later, education community disappointed by Measure L’s close defeat

Yes on L

One week after Oakland voters defeated Measure L, a parcel tax that would have boosted city public teacher salaries, members of the city’s public education community are frustrated and disheartened. “I’m pretty disappointed, because it almost made it,” said Sam Davis, an adult education teacher at Manzanita SEED Academy in East Oakland. “It was so close.”

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Oakland results: Proposition and Measure results

California voters came out for and against some of the most controversial propositions and measures in recent memory. Proposition 19, which would have legalized recreational use of marijuana, was rejected by a slim margin statewide despite support in Alameda County.  Prop 19 proponent Richard Lee has publicly vowed to bring another initiative before voters in…

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Early returns suggest Measure L short of required votes

Measure L, the $195 parcel tax that would have raise money for teacher salary increases, was receiving 58 percent approval in early returns tonight, with just over 10 percent of precincts reporting. But that fell short of the two-thirds supermajority required in California to pass any new tax increase.

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A proponent of Measure L weighs in

The 'Yes on L' campaign has taken root in Oakland, but the teachers' union is remaining neutral.

In Oakland, the school district had to cut $122 million from its budget this year, and teachers have not gotten a raise in nearly a decade. Some folks are trying to change that. They’ve put a measure on the ballot that would create a 54-cent per day property tax to raise teachers’ salaries. To learn more about how the measure would work and what the benefits to Oakland students might be, Lillian Mongeau caught up with one of the measure’s biggest champions, Jonathan Klein of Great Oakland Public Schools.

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