Molly Munger, proponent of the tax initiative that would raise taxes on all income taxpayers except the poor, has a new ad promoting her initiative … but it doesn’t mention the “T” word — Taxes.
The ad says that money is directed to classrooms and bypasses politicians who have not acted to fix the schools.
Making sure education dollars get to the classroom is not a bad idea. When I worked with former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan in his run for governor in 2002 we developed a plan called “Classroom First Budgeting.” Our idea was to beef up classroom spending by sending current education dollars into classrooms first before they went to administration and other concerns.
The Munger initiative wants to put new money into the classroom to the tune of $9-billion a year raised by higher income tax rates.
However, you would never know a tax increase is involved in the measure by watching the new ad. The ad informs viewers that an initiative would direct money straight to classrooms but it does not inform voters that money would come from a tax increase.
Here is the ad running in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
http://youtu.be/Wc4ugTPUqiU