Advocacy Updates from California State PTA:

Have YOU Completed the Census?

3 minutes of your time to answer 9 simple questions will help California claim BILLIONS of dollars in Federal funding. Encourage your family and friends to complete the census before September 30th. https://2020census.gov/ or call 844-330-2020

Who should be counted in the Census? ALL ages (babies too), ALL genders, ALL religions, ALL orientations, ALL abilities, ALL ethnicities, ALL documented and undocumented status, ALL with or without a permanent address, 60+ Census language guides available including Braille - EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US COUNTS. https://2020census.gov/

Be Sure to Vote!

Vote by Mail is an automatic, safe, and secure option this year in California. You will automatically receive a ballot in the mail in early October. Be sure to cast your vote, seal and sign the envelope then return it by mail, deliver to your polling place, put it in a ballot drop off location or authorize someone to return your ballot on your behalf. Did you know you have 4 options to return your ballot this year?

• 1. Mail it in by November 3; must be postmarked November 3 to count
• 2. Personally deliver it to a polling place/voting center or your County Election Official’s office by 8pm on November 3
• 3. Personally drop it off to one of your county’s drop off locations
• 4. Authorize someone you trust to return your ballot on your behalf; you will need to fill out the authorization section on the outside of your ballot envelope.

Contact your county elections official for the locations of your voting centers and drop off locations.

Prop 15 is a fair and balanced reform that: 1. Requires commercial and industrial real estate property worth $3 million or more to be taxed on current market values. 2. Reclaims billions every year to invest in our schools and local communities. 3. Exempts homeowners, renters, small businesses and agricultural land so they continue to be protected by Prop 13. Join California State PTA and support Schools and Communities First Proposition 15. Did you know? Just 10% of California’s most expensive nonresidential commercial properties account for 92% of Prop 15’s revenues. Support Schools and Communities First Proposition 15.

We must address a legacy of unequal treatment of marginalized groups and promote fairness and advance upward mobility, pay equity, and racial wealth gap reduction. That’s why PTA Supports Prop. 16

“You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, “you are free to compete with all the others,” and still justly believe that you have been completely fair. Thus it is not enough just to open the gates of opportunity. All our citizens must have the ability to walk through those gates.”  Lyndon B Johnson’s commencement address at Howard University 1965

Current law prevents our elected leaders from taking targeted action to fight discrimination based on race and gender. Vote “Yes” on Prop. 16 so that elected leaders can design programs that provide good jobs, better wages, and access to great schools for all Californians.

As Californians, we value diversity and fairness, and we know that ending discrimination is the right thing to do. Prop 16 allows us to remedy gender bias and racism, and build a California that reflects our values.

California is one of only 9 states that outlaws equal opportunity policies in hiring and education. The way to move California forward is to pass Prop. 16 – to actively combat systemic racism.

Women and people of color are paid less, have fewer chances to access higher education, and are denied job opportunities. Prop. 16 will level the playing field.

A study by UC Berkeley Economist Zachary Bleemer found that California’s affirmative action ban, Proposition 209, has limited educational opportunities, lowered wages, and stunted economic mobility for Black and Latino students.

To read more about this ballot measure on the California State PTA website, click here.