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Notice is hereby given by the persons
whose names appear hereon of their intent to circulate the petition within
the City of Santa Monica for the purpose of amending the City Charter to
establish that providing additional local funding to the public schools
serving the City is a municipal affair, and to enable and require the City
of Santa Monica to annually provide specified local funds to the Santa
Monica-Malibu Unified School District. A statement of the reasons of
the proposed action as contemplated in the petition is as follows: (a) The purpose of this measure is to enable and ensure that the City of Santa Monica provides the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District with stable financial support on an on-going basis. This measure is intended to ensure that the children of our community and the institution that most directly affects and shapes their lives, our public schools, share directly in the prosperity of our City. (b) This measure establishes the funding of local public schools as a local priority and a municipal affair without raising taxes, and requires the City of Santa Monica to allocate a limited amount of funds to the School District each year in a way that will not materially impair the operational services of the City or the basic fiscal authority of the City Council. (c) The quality of educational opportunities at public schools in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District suffers from a basic lack of sufficient funding and the uncertainty of the State's budget prospects from year-to-year. A stable level of local support from the City of Santa Monica to the School District will help to alleviate this uncertainty and lack of funding. The City of Santa Monica has the financial capacity to provide the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District with financial assistance beyond what it currently provides. This measure would require that the City contribute only a small portion of the City's total budget to the School District; yet it is an amount that would greatly benefit local public schools. (d) The entire community benefits from ensuring that the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has the financial resources necessary to provide excellent educational opportunities for its students. Excellent public schools attract quality businesses to the community, increase property values, generate local tax revenues, help to deter criminal activity, reduce community problems such as poverty, drug use and teen pregnancy, and contribute to the overall quality of life in the City. In addition, the School District regularly makes its facilities available for after-hours community use including its auditoriums, gymnasiums, playing fields, and classrooms. All of these community benefits, and more, will represent a substantial beneficial return on the City's investment in local public schools. Signed Shari Davis,
Louise Jaffe,
Ralph Mechur
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