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Letter: Support Schools Parcel Tax, Instructional Needs

This "Dear Community" letter from a grassroots group, Support West County Students, urges attendance at two special West Contra Costa school board meetings to show support for instructional needs and a parcel tax.

Dear Community,

Our students need our support. As West Contra Costa Unified School District’s revenue from the state of California continues to decline, all our students are impacted by the loss of funding of critical programs in the classroom and school. The expiration of the local parcel tax in June 2014 means that our students will have even less academic support. What can you do?


Please come to two very important WCCUSD Board of Education meetings at Lovonya DeJean Middle School as the Board considers whether to place a possible revenue measure on the November ballot to address this funding crisis.

At the first meeting on Monday, July 23 at 6:00 p.m., the Board will hear the results of a recent critical survey, gauging the support of voters for a possible parcel tax renewal and increase. At the second meeting on Wednesday, August 1 at 6:30 p.m., the Board will determine if any revenue measures will be on the ballot in November.

Make your voice heard at these two critical meetings! The Board needs to hear from all corners of our community, and hear that instructional support is our highest priority.

Want to help more? Join a grassroots, family-led, community driven effort called Support West County Students to ensure instructional support is our highest priority.

To find out how you can volunteer, please call (510) 255-1834 or send an e-mail to wccusdparceltax@gmail.com.  To find out how you can pledge financial support to a parcel tax campaign, please send an e-mail to wccpti@gmail.com.

Please share this information with your family, neighbors, and community!

– Support West County Students

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Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
G.C. May 18, 2013 at 05:18 am
Lastly, society (including parents and kids) are letting our schools down as evidenced by theRead More extreme truancy in Hercules and Pinole. Taxpayers give in the form of bond measures and parcel taxes. Teachers give out of their pockets. And our kids show their appreciation by skipping class. Sad.
G.C. May 17, 2013 at 08:43 pm
Jessica, This approach to funding the classroom needs to stop in order to return the teachingRead More profession to just that, a profession. Teaching should not be a life-long stint in the Peace Corps. I easily spent $500 per year of my own money when I was teaching science in the district. I enabled the erosion of the public education system. Enough is enough. Teachers need to call society on it. This means teachers also need to return some responsibilities to the administration. Currently, teachers have assumed enough responsibility to result in the scapegoating of their profession, but not enough responsibility to succeed at their profession. Join the rest of the working world. Come to work and do as your told per chain-of-command. If you do not have the supplies you need, we'll hold your bosses, and ourselves, accountable. Teaching is no different than being a mechanic or a police officer or doctor. We pay all of them what they are worth. Why is it different for teachers?
Bud Burlison May 16, 2013 at 07:06 am
You can always change your provider if you're disappointed with service. I thinkRead More "hit-and-miss" can describe a lot of health service providers, but Kaiser is among the best if the experts are to be believed. I've had nothing but the best service for about 40 years.
G.C. May 15, 2013 at 05:51 am
Kaiser received serious administrative penalties-fines as reported here by the California DepartmentRead More of Public Health http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/facilities/Pages/APCountyAlameda.aspx http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/facilities/Pages/APCountySanFrancisco.aspx Kaiser is hit-and-miss, much like public schools. You might get an excellent doctor (or teacher) or you might encounter a real dud. I've encountered both. I'm still scratching my head over a recent visit in which I had been up all night with a blocked esophagus since 5 pm Easter dinner. The advice nurse made a 9 AM appointment for me with my doctor instead of sending me to the ER. When I saw my doctor, I was spitting into a cup because I couldn't swallow. I told him I had even tried to induce vomiting during the night. He noticed that the back of my throat was red--he said he worried that it was an infection. I told him I had attempted to induce vomiting, using the back of a fork. He said that the back of a fork is dirty, that my red throat must be an infection. Seriously? So only sterile things should go into my mouth? No comment. He then asked me why I was there, that I should be in the ER instead. Really? Ask the advice nurse. He offered to call an ambulance. He then said he would call the ER to let them know I was on my way. He then showed me the fastest way to my car. It was a very long day. I couldn't even swallow water. At 3:00, I was x-rayed. At 5:00, they did an endoscopy and removed the blockage. Twenty four hours of being unable to swallow might be something they want to try at Guantanamo. I would have said anything just to be able to sip some water. It's far from the best, but it is affordable.