By Martha Beetley and Greg Brucker

As teachers in the Davis Joint Unified School District, we are asking for your support by voting yes on Measure C.

Measure C is a renewal of currently enacted parcel taxes that directly support Davis public schools and the children of our community. The school parcel tax has provided additional funds for exemplary educational programs in our school district since 1984. Because we believe that education is an issue of great importance to the heart and soul of the community of Davis and UC Davis, we ask our community for its help once again.

We chose the teaching profession because we care about the education and well-being of future generations, and we believe in the value and potential of each of our students. Our passion for teaching, lifelong learning and the positive growth of our students drives us to do everything we can to improve our students’ education, to expand their educational opportunities and to create a foundation for each student to succeed in today’s and tomorrow’s society. Our children are our future.

Through previous parcel tax funding, DJUSD currently has the ability to offer students a strong, well-rounded education, with early reading and math support; elementary science and library programs; strong music, arts and foreign language programs; and many sports offerings. Further, parcel tax funding allows our youngest students to attend classrooms with lowered student numbers.

Recently, registered voters within the Davis Joint Unified School District received the mail-in ballot for Measure C. A yes vote will maintain and preserve currently funded programs, keeping the state of our educational system intact. If Measure C doesn’t pass, the district will be forced to cut nearly 10 percent of its budget and lay off almost 90 educators from a wide variety of subjects and areas.

Measure C infuses $6.5 million annually into district programs and will maintain those funds for five years. It levies $320 per year for single-family homes and $150 per year for multi-family dwellings.

Without the funding from Measure C, our students will have fewer classes to select from at the secondary level, and may be forced to choose between learning an instrument or learning a language, or between taking a core subject like math, and an elective, such as a language, art or drama.

Also, our elementary students will lose the offerings of instrumental music and laboratory science, and will not have credentialed librarians or reading and math specialists to supplement instruction.

We believe losing these opportunities would be harmful to the education of the students of this great community. Davis may not continue to be the bright beacon of public education in a state that has greatly suffered after so many cuts to public education funding.

A strong and diverse education is the key that unlocks all the greatness that life has to offer. If you care about the future of education in Davis, please make a strong statement by voting yes for Measure C. If you care about local control and the ability to have a voice in local outcomes, make a strong statement by voting yes on Measure C.

As teachers working in the Davis public schools, who care deeply about our students’, (your children’s) education, we ask that you continue to support the availability of curricular offerings for the students of Davis by voting yes on Measure C and turning in your ballot before Tuesday’s deadline.

— Martha Beetley is a reading specialist at North Davis Elementary School and Greg Brucker is the orchestra director at Emerson and Harper junior high schools.

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