FAQ Regarding Passage of Proposition A
Quality Teacher and Education Act 2008
What percentage of voters approved Prop. A?
69.75% of voters approved Prop.A. The measure needed 2/3 approval to pass.
Why has the charge this year increased to $204.16?
The Quality Teacher and Education Act provides for a cost of living increase each year for the annual tax. This is based on the average annual Consumer Price Index for the Bay Area.
When will the district begin collecting the tax?
Proposition A is a $198 annual tax per parcel. It will be collected by the Tax Collector's Office and begin with the property tax bills issued in the fall of 2008. The money will then be passed to SFUSD via the Controller's Office.
What will the tax go toward?
- Making salaries competitive with surrounding school districts, at significant steps in a teacher's career, to assure that San Francisco can effectively recruit and retain teachers.
- Providing additional incentives for teachers who work at schools with high teacher turnover and in hard-to-fill subject areas.
- Increasing training and professional development opportunities for teachers to stay abreast of the latest teaching methods.
- Increasing teacher support and accountability, including mentoring for new teachers and greater assurance that only teachers who meet standards are in the classroom.
- Providing block grants to schools showing the most growth in student achievement.
- Improving academic innovation through research and development.
- Upgrading technologies and computer systems at schools.
How much money will go to each area?
At this time the projected revenue is estimated to be 28.8 million. Given that the revenue may fluctuate, exact dollar amounts are not set. Below are the percentages of revenue currently allocated to each area:
- Teacher Compensation, Training and Support = 71.3%
- Technology = 13.1%
- Equity adjustments (increased retirement benefit adjustments for other represented employees) = 7.4%
- Charter Schools = 3.5%
- Innovation, Research and Development = 2.6%
- Additional Teacher Professional Development support (costs of trainers, materials, coordination, etc) = 1.8%
- Oversight = 0.3%
When will new teacher salaries go into effect?
The new pay scale will go into effect sometime during the next school year (no later than 90 days after SFUSD receives the funds from the City Controller).
How many teachers work in SFUSD?
There are approximately 3,800 teachers.
What other kinds of changes besides increased teacher compensation will be visible in the near future?
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Technology
To begin, the amount of money SFUSD will receive for technology will go towards improving the essential infrastructure necessary to bring schools up to current technology standards - equipment and hardware such as servers, connectivity, and bandwidth - the nuts and bolts of technology work. SFUSD also hopes to spend a portion of the funds towards two high leverage projects: the point of sale system to process school meal payments and the home and school connection classroom portal where parents can view homework, grades, and attendance. All technology funding will be driven by the district's technology plan. The current plan can be viewed on the district's website and will be updated by December 2008.
- Peer Assistance and Review Coaches
The district will hire five additional PAR coaches to support teachers who are having difficulty meeting standards for the teaching profession. Teachers who receive a "needs improvement" rating for two consecutive semesters shall be eligible to be referred to the PAR program. A teacher who has exited the PAR program and subsequently receives an unsatisfactory notice may be moved to dismissal. There are 7 essential standards from the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP) mutually agreed upon by the district and the teachers' union that teachers will be required to demonstrate proficiency in before exiting successfully from the PAR program.
For a more complete description of how most of the funds will be allocated, including the new certificated salary schedule, view the SFUSD UESF MOU on the web site.
