Maintaining school excellence is vital

I have always been a strong supporter of public education. It’s one of the reasons we moved to Culver City in 1986. Our son received a solid educational grounding in the CCUSD, graduating from Culver High in 2010 and from a top ten university in 2014. But I don’t believe our educational system can rest on its laurels. We have a moral obligation to “pay it forward” for the next generation of students.

Those who are against increased spending argue that current spending levels are too high and that public schools spend their current revenues inefficiently, even though California is nowhere near the top nationally in per pupil spending. In fact, we’re close to the bottom when the cost of living is factored in.

Opponents also claim that our district pays exorbitant salaries to our administrators, even though their salaries are below the state average while Culver City is above the state average in cost of living.

Maintaining Culver City’s excellent public schools is vital for our students and our community, but, as it happens, there’s also a substantial financial benefit for property owners, even those of us without kids in school.

Excellent local schools correlate with higher property values. Measure K asks for just $189 per year for seven years (senior citizens can opt out) to maintain educational excellence. That’s a lot less money than we’ll earn from the property values Measure K and our great schools will help us maintain. Vote YES on Measure K!

— Crystal Alexander

Former City Treasurer of Culver City