If you live in San Marino or within the boundaries of San Marino Unified School District, you might be getting a phone call asking you to support Measure E. Here are some facts about this measure so that you can make an informed decision when you receive the ballot in the mail.

State budget cuts pose an immediate threat to San Marino’s schools.

Due to a $42 billion deficit, Sacramento has drastically cut school funding. For San Marino schools, this will mean a minimum $5 million budget shortfall. The budget cuts needed to address this shortfall will devastate much of the legacy of excellence our community has built in the local schools over the last 50 years.

One out of every three teachers will be lost.

Without Measure E funds, our schools will be forced to eliminate the jobs of 50 to 60 teachers – 1 out of every 3 teachers in the school district. Without these teachers, class sizes will increase dramatically — by 40% to 50% — doubling the number of students in some classes across all grade levels.

Cuts will impact every classroom and every child.

Without Measure E funds, schools will be forced to reduce the number of core academic classes available to students. Many advanced placement and honors classes will disappear. Foreign language opportunities will vanish. Academic and counseling services to students will be cut in half. Comprehensive K-12 visual and performing arts programs will be greatly reduced or eliminated as will the schools’ physical education and athletic programs.

Measure E is a local solution.

Measure E is a local parcel tax. These funds can only be used to support San Marino schools. It will raise stable, reliable funds for the schools for the next 6 years. It will make the schools less dependent on fluctuating and unpredictable state funding. The state cannot take them away.

This is a Mail Ballot election.

Measure E has been placed on the ballot as a mail ballot election. Every registered voter who lives within the school district, including those in the unincorporated county areas of the district, will receive a ballot beginning in early April. All ballots must be mailed and received at the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder’s office in Norwalk no later than May 5. The postmark on the ballot does not count. You will need to make sure to mail your ballot on or before April 28.

It will cost approximately $2 a day.

Approval of Measure E will create an annual cost of $795 per parcel – about $2.17 per day to preserve and protect the outstanding quality education provided to the children of the school district. This measure lasts for six years and then voters in the San Marino Unified School District can decide if it is still needed. The entire cost is deductible on state and federal taxes.

There is strict accountability.

Strict accountability is mandatory. Measure E requires that the school district be accountable to the voters of the community and that the funds are spent properly. All funds must be placed in a separate account and an annual report must be made public every year.

There is a senior exemption.

Any individual 65 or older who owns and occupies a single family home in the district is eligible for a full exemption from the cost of Measure E.

Measure E benefits everyone.

San Marino’s excellent schools have built, maintained and strengthened our property values. San Marino is the #1 unified school district in California. According to the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office, the value of homes in the San Marino school district continues to increase at a rate of 7% annually despite the economic downturn and current housing crisis. Home values in nearby communities have declined 30% or more in the last year alone.

Learn more by visiting www.AboutMeasureE.org.

If you live in San Marino, how do you feel about this measure? What kind of questions do you have or would like addressed?