League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Los Angeles, Ventura County, CA November 8, 2011 Election
	Measure K Education Parcel Tax Las Virgenes Unified School District Parcel Tax - 2/3 Approval Required Fail: 4,460 / 56.7% Yes votes ...... 3,408 / 43.3% No votes    4,290 (56.60%) Yes / 3,290 (43.40%) No in Los Angeles County    170 (59.03%) Yes / 118 (40.97%) No in Ventura County See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure K

Arguments Against Measure K

Great local schools are a major reason why many of us moved here -- and why so many are still eager to move to our area. Despite the unreliability of State funding for schools, the Las Virgenes Unified School District -- serving Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Westlake Village, Hidden Hills and Bell Canyon -- maintains exceptionally high-quality schools. Our local schools are widely considered to be among California's best, thanks to high test scores and ongoing student success. In fact, the excellence of local schools is a major reason why our local property values remain high today. Measure K will help ensure continued excellence, by protecting academic opportunities in our local elementary, middle and high schools - especially in the math and science classes students need to excel in the 21st Century. Measure K will help attract and retain great teachers, help protect reading and arts programs, and help maintain smaller class sizes. Measure K guarantees our local students benefit: the State can't cut these funds from our neighborhood schools. Every dollar will stay in our community, under local control and local oversight. Measure K is needed to help compensate for millions of dollars in severe State budget cuts to our local schools. Without Measure K, students will lose academic opportunities in math, science, language and the arts. Senior citizens age 65 and over, many of whom are on fixed incomes, are exempt from paying Measure K. Measure K ensures fiscal accountability, by guaranteeing independent citizen oversight and annual audits. No funds can be spent on administrator salaries or benefits. Measure K is critically needed to maintain the high-quality academics that make Las Virgenes schools so desirable, and prepare local students so well for college and careers. Please join us in voting Yes on K. Visit http://www.ExcellentLasVirgenesSchools.org to learn more. AMY BRINK LVUSD Westlake Village Parent, Triunfo YMCA Board Member JAMES R. BOZAJIAN Mayor, City of Calabasas ED CORRIDORI Retired Mayor, City of Agoura Hills, Local Business Owner CATHY PRATER AP Chemistry Teacher, Agoura High School CAROL WASHBURN Retired President & CEO, Calabasas Chamber of Commerce Rebuttal to Arguments For We support quality education while also maintaining fiscal integrity. LVUSD wants more of your money but it will not commit to how it will be used. Omission of binding language in this Measure facilitates a serious lack of accountability to taxpayers, despite promised "independent fiscal oversight". This Measure's wording is overly vague and misleading. It claims "no funds" from this $2 million/year tax will be used for administrator salaries. However, LVUSD has not committed to freeze administrator salaries for the duration of this tax. LVUSD can just use other existing funds for salary increases. Uncontrolled spending and fiscal mismanagement by LVUSD is LVUSD's problem, not funding. LVUSD alleges "state cutbacks exceeding over $10 million over the past three years". However, if salary and benefit costs from 1994 to 2008/09 had been held to the rate of inflation, 2008/09 compensation would have been $53 million, not $82 million, saving $29 million in just 2008/09 alone. This dwarfs the alleged $10 million state cutbacks. Further, recent legislation is expected to increase future state funding to schools. LVUSD's purpose is to educate our children. LVUSD should downsize as in-district enrollment declines. In 2010/11, 1,495 students attended LVUSD schools on inter-district permits, but lived outside our district [source: LVUSD]. You will pay a tax those families will not. Seniors beware! Exemptions are not automatic. You must reapply every year, or pay. Another eight-year tax is not justified. PLEASE VOTE NO! Visit http://www.EndTaxAndSpend.com to learn more. DANIEL CRISAFULLI Businessman DELORES DAVIS 30-Yr. Resident of Agoura Hills BARBARA MURPHY Co-Founder, Citizens Against New Local Taxes (CANLT) JOSEPH H. MURPHY Software Development Manager JOHN H. WOOD Retired Economist U.S. Dept. of Labor

Please vote NO on this Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD) Parcel Tax! (a) LVUSD ALREADY receives a Parcel Tax that was passed in 2004 and renewed through 2015. Now it wants you to pay a SECOND Parcel Tax, which would take effect in 2012 and last eight years. (b) The District's total ENROLLMENT HAS DECLINED every year between 2003/04 and 2010/11. Total enrollment was 10,718 in 1994/95, peaked at 12,170 in 2003/04, and declined to 11,393 in 2010/11. [Source: California Department of Education.] (c) The District's total SALARIES AND BENEFITS SKYROCKETED 121% between 1994/95 and 2008/09, while inflation for the very same period was only 43%! Salaries and benefits were $37 million in 1994/95, and jumped to $82 million in 2008/09. [Sources: LVUSD; Bureau of Labor Statistics.] (d) Independent auditors cited "SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCIES" in the District's financial processes. [Source: Audited Annual Financial Report, June 30, 2009.] Rather than adequately control expenditures and make necessary cuts (like most families and private sector businesses must do), the District continues its excessive and inappropriate spending. (e) Finally, the District is spending MILLIONS and millions of dollars for expensive remodels, to build new school(s), and construct two new multi-million dollar performing arts centers, while total enrollment continues to decline. The District should be downsizing instead. THE FACTS DO NOT SUPPORT ANOTHER PARCEL TAX. PLEASE VOTE NO! DANIEL CRISAFULLI Businessman DELORES DAVIS 30-Yr. Resident of Agoura Hills BARBARA MURPHY Co-Founder of Citizens Against New Local Taxes (CANLT) JOSEPH H. MURPHY Software Development Manager JOHN WOOD Retired Economist U.S. Dept. of Labor Rebuttal to Arguments Against The facts don't support their allegations. Our local school district is among the best managed and most fiscally responsible in California, with some of the lowest administrative costs per-student. Independent auditors note the district's annual, public audits are "clean," with "no recommendations rising to a level of material concern." Visit http://www.lvusd.org to view audit reports and auditors' remarks. The truth is, our local schools are not only fiscally responsible, they deliver exceptional results in the classroom. Local students score near the top of statewide test scores. Our schools provide outstanding return on investment to local taxpayers, and increase everyone's property values, by delivering consistent student success. Measure K is a temporary investment in local school funding to help bridge the gap left by over $10 million in state cuts. It will help retain our great teachers, and support outstanding student achievement in math, science, writing and reading -- the fundamental necessities for a solid education. Measure K helps protect our investment in our homes, by providing local students a top-notch education, preparing them to compete for college and careers. Measure K means greater local control over school funding, since these funds cannot be taken or cut by Sacramento. Fiscal accountability is built in, by prohibiting use of funds for administrators' compensation, and requiring independent citizen oversight, ensuring all Measure K funds support local student achievement. Join us, vote YES on Measure K. LESLI KRAUT Chair, Measure E Citizens Oversight Committee Local Business Owner JOSE L. SANTOS Asst. Professor, Education Economics and Finance Policy, UCLA GORDON KLEIN CPA, Attorney RAY PEARL LVUSD Westlake Village parent White Oak PFC President PAT SCHULZ Chair, Citizens for Excellent L.V. Schools Former LVUSD Board of Education member