By Delaine Eastin

I live in Davis for a reason. It has great schools with great children, teachers, administrators, parents and staff. But all school districts have great children. The problem is that not all communities understand what a vital role high-quality schools play in creating a great community.

I think this town gets it. We have a lower crime rate. When a recession hits, our homes retain more of their value than some surrounding communities. We have neighborhoods where people look out for each other. Much of this value added is because we have the best schools in a 10-county region.

Now the community of Davis is facing a big test. The Davis Joint Unified School District Board of Education has asked the community to invest an additional $200 annually for each home and $20 annually for each apartment for the next two years so we can offset the cuts coming from the state of California. Called Measure A, this parcel tax is really a form of homeowner’s insurance, such that we ensure the quality of Davis schools despite the horrific cuts that most school districts across California have faced and are facing.

There is a reason for everyone to get behind Measure A. It is patriotic. It is common sense. It is about leadership for a better tomorrow for every individual child as well as for the overall community.

With this parcel tax, we will be able to retain science and history in our curriculum. (Across California, in too many districts, science and history are only taught in the in the two grades for which there is a state test!)

Passing the parcel tax will allow us to retain counselors. (California is dead last in the number of counselors per student overall.)

Measure A also will allow us to have reduced class size in K-6 and in high school English and math. (California now has the largest class size in the U.S. overall.)

This parcel tax also allows us to retain elective course offerings, including but not limited to foreign language and music. (In too many communities, the school year is being shortened and the school day is being reduced, leaving no opportunity for so-called electives.)

Neil Postman once said, “Children are a message we send to a time we will never see.”

I got this far in life because my parents bought a smaller house that cost more than they could have bought in a neighboring community. They did this because the schools of the community they selected were better. That was a life-changing decision they made on my behalf.

They are no longer here to see this time in which we live. I think they would be proud of their whole generation coming out of depression and war, dreaming of a better life for their children and acting on those dreams. I hope we can say the same, if not for our whole state and nation, at least for our community. In the meantime, seniors who are 65 or older are able to receive a full exemption from this tax if they so choose.

In Davis, we have a noble tradition of being for education and for children. Most Democrats, Republicans and Independents vote in the tradition of education-minded presidents like FDR and Ike, of governors like Democrat Pat Brown and Republican Earl Warren. Please keep up that tradition.

Let us earn an A by passing Measure A. This is not a community that should settle for basic education and a C grade, which in a global economy will morph into an F for failure very fast. Step up by investing in tomorrow.

And neighbors, if your optimism is sagging, you should spend more time around children. You see, children are naturally optimistic. I believe in them and you should, too.

In the meantime, we need your vote between April 4 and May 3 on a mail-in ballot. This is a two-thirds vote requirement, so we need twice as many folks to say yes as we have folks who say no. Every vote matters. Please stand up and be counted for the little ones who are still learning to count.

— Delaine Eastin, a Davis resident, is the former superintendent of public instruction for the state of California. Find Eastin’s Wikipedia biography here. Find her League of Women Voters candidate statement from her 1998 run for superintendent of public instruction here.

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Montgomery Elementary School fourth-graders work on mastering long division in March 2010. Davis voters will be asked to “do the math” when considering how they’ll vote on Measure A, a $200-per-year emergency parcel tax for the next two years. Apartment dwellers would be charged $20 per year. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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