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San Francisco Prop. G — Teacher pay and a real-estate parcel tax

San Francisco Unified School District

 

Proposition G is all about pay for San Francisco Unified School District educators. Recruiting and retaining teachers, instructional aides, school psychologists and others who work with students has been tough for the district. That’s because San Francisco is a very expensive place to live.

Prop G would boost educators’ pay through a $298 parcel tax on properties in San Francisco. It would kick in on July 1 and stay in place for two decades. Senior citizens would be exempt.

It’s expected to generate $50 million a year. Three-fourths of that money would go pay increases for teachers and other educators. They’d end up getting a 7 percent boost to their yearly salaries. The rest would go for professional development, digital technology and staffing at high-needs schools that have been historically underserved. And 4 percent would go to support charter schools.

It’s not a new concept. Voters passed a smaller parcel tax for teacher pay boosts in 2008 and that one lasts for two decades too, so there’d be some overlap.

Supporters

So who supports Prop G? The teachers union, United Educators of San Francisco, and the district’s deputy superintendent. City supervisors and school board trustees support it too. And there are also lots of individual contributors.

The biggest is Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who put in a quarter million bucks earlier this month.

Opponents

The Libertarian Party of San Francisco opposes Prop G. They say San Francisco Unified teachers already get paid enough, and they don’t like taxes — especially parcel taxes, because everyone gets hit with the same amount, regardless of the value of the property.

YOUR VOTE

So vote yes on G if you want to boost the salaries of San Francisco Unified’s educators.

Vote no if you don’t want another parcel tax or believe district educators don’t need a raise.