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EMERYVILLE--If voters approve it on Tuesday, Proposition 49 could drop a bundle on this this tiny, financially struggling three-school district-- $50,000 next year for the elementary school and $75,000 for the middle and high schools. At first glance, that looks like a great deal, especially since the district's year-old mentoring program runs out of money in December.
But some people aren't happy about it, saying that for a small district like Emeryville, the program will prove more trouble than it's worth.
"I will not vote for it," said Nora Davis, city council vice president. "I pulled it off the council's agenda." The council had planned to approve a public declaration of support for the measure during its Oct. 1 meeting, but Davis had doubts about the proposition and decided to duck the vote, by taking it off the council agenda.
There's argument in Emeryville both for and against Proposition 49, the ballot measure that would set aside $550 million of the state's budget specifically for after school programs. But most agree that despite its promise of new state money, the measure works against some school districts whose small size makes the program mandates burdensome and hard to meet. There are about 1,000 students in the Emery Unified School District, making it one of 118 school districts statewide with between 500 and 1,000 students.
Under the terms of Proposition 49, to cite one example worrying the ballot measure's critics, any school district receiving the new afterschool money would have to provide transportation for program participants. Though transportation modes are not specific, they must be supervised, said Sheri Annis, a spokeswoman for Citizens for After School Programs. Some local groups argue that most districts can't afford to triple-bus children: once in the morning, again in the afternoon and a third time at night for students who need a ride home after programs.
In Emeryville, where most students walk to school, there's the problem of not having school buses at all. Students who don't walk use AC Transit to get to and from school, said school administrator Henry Der. He said his district doesn't plan on acquiring school buses and can't see why they would need them for such a small city. "It's only one square mile," Der said.
In addition, state money from Proposition 49 would have to be matched with local funds. This means that in Emeryville, where district officials have said they can't afford to put lockers in the middle school, the school would be required to match half of the state grant total. "It's an issue for us," Der said. "Emery is strapped for cash."
David Walrath, president of the Sacramento-based Small School Districts' Association, said he opposes the measure because it isn't tailored to schools of all sizes.
"When an initiative is drafted, it tends to be drafted for the big folk," Walrath said. Fifty-eight percent of California's school districts have fewer than 2,500 students, according to the California Department of Education. Districts would have to apply for Proposition 49 money as they would for any grant, which means a district could decide not to apply -- but that is not a satisfactory option either, Walrath said.
"It's a loss of equity," he said. "What this does is result in the kids in the small districts not having the same opportunity as the kids in the larger districts."
Frank Wells, a spokesman for the California Teachers Association, which has supported Proposition 49, said smaller school districts could find ways to participate in the program and benefit from it. "It's good for kids, and it's cost effective," Wells said. "I've worked with CTA for a long time, and I have never seen an initiative that has gotten this broad support."
Supporters of the measure say the proposition would create safe places for children and lower crime rates. This, they say, would save the state money on remedial courses and juvenile detention centers. Opponents argue that earmarking money helps state officials ignore the troubled budget and bypass the needs of other important state-funded programs, such as health care.
"It's like Russian roulette," said Anne Henderson of the League of Women Voters. "Someone's going to get shot, but you don't know who and when."
Cheryl Webb, the Emery Unified School District's clerk, said she supports the proposition even though many of her colleagues are uneasy about it.
"It's a commitment," she said. "And it's a commitment that has never been shown before."