When California voters approved Proposition 55 in 2016, they voted to extend a tax on the state’s highest earners to protect public school funding. Now, with the measure set to expire in 2030, public school districts like FUHSD could face more than $2 million in losses. Due to the threat of funding loss, district educators and the California Teachers Association, California’s most prominent labor union and professional organization for public school educators, are organizing to keep the funding in place — extended, if not permanent.
Prop 55 was first enacted as California Proposition 30 during the Great Recession and later extended by voters through 2030. According to a representative from the California Teachers Association, Prop 55 extended higher personal income tax rates on the state’s top 1-2% of California earners: single filers with earnings over $250,000, joint filers with over $500,000 and heads of households with over $340,000. Moreover, according to the California Department of Finance, California’s education funding has more than doubled to $114 billion annually because of the tax enacted by Prop 30 and 55.
“What that looks like is around $10 billion in funding for schools and community colleges,” the CTA representative said. “The risk of that going away would look like one in six educators potentially losing their jobs throughout the state of California if Prop 55 is not extended.”
Revenue flows into the State Education Protection Account before being distributed to K-12 schools and community colleges, with spending plans made public and subject to audits. While funds are primarily directed to education, districts have broad discretion over how to use the money, as long as it covers education and administrative costs. According to Fremont Education Association President Carley Stavis, in FUHSD, that funding translates to $2 million and is largely used to fund different roles’ salaries in the district.
“These roles include teacher mentors who help brand new teachers go through their induction process and faculty who are curriculum leads in our district have leadership roles in departments like literature and science,” Stavis said. “We have someone who’s in each of those roles across the district. We also have people in other kinds of roles where they get this kind of money that’s not from our regular salary money, but from other one-time or temporary funds.”
Unlike programs with more visible line items, Prop 55 funding in FUHSD largely supports behind-the-scenes roles. Many of these roles are filled by veteran teachers who step partially or fully out of the classroom to lead district initiatives.
“What would practically happen if Prop 55 went away is that people would no longer be able to stay out of the classroom,” Stavis said. “That likely means newer teachers we’ve hired in the last few years won’t have a job anymore, potentially because we’re moving people out of these leadership roles into the classroom again. It makes it hard for us to retain our newer teachers, and that’s what we’re trying to prevent.”
According to MVHS Librarian, FEA MVHS Site President and CTA member Laura Utile, projections rely on enrollment from feeder elementary and middle schools, where the ripple effect could extend beyond staffing. With declining enrollment already pressuring budgets across Bay Area districts, district leaders would need to reallocate or cut funds to compensate, as the loss of funding would force difficult trade-offs during annual budget planning.
“There’s not necessarily programs that get direct funding from Prop 55 that are student-facing, but the work we do to keep revising our curriculum makes it more engaging and relevant,” Stavis said. “That’s the kind of stuff that people in these roles are helping make happen.”
The CTA is leading a petition to place a new measure on the November 2026 ballot that would extend — and potentially remove — the expiration date of the tax. The union filed the initiative in late August for the 2026 ballot. The effort, titled the California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act of 2026, requires roughly 875,000 valid signatures across the state to qualify.
“We’re really focused on the signature gathering process right now,” the CTA representative said. “It’s an in-person petition gathering — in-person because people need education. Not everybody understands the tax or the goals of the tax. We’re hoping to have 85% of our members educated, aware and signed to support the extension of Prop 55, and it’s going really well. We had a deadline for the end of March and we’re tracking for that.”
Utile recognizes the importance of pushing for the signatures and taking serious action, due to the difficulty of renewing Prop 55 if it were to expire. As a result, Utile collects signatures from both CTA members and faculty at MVHS. Districts across the state have coordinators and representatives specific to each school site, with the petition progressing at different rates at each location.
“There have been several schools that have met their goals,” the CTA representative said. “However, throughout California, school sizes vary — some schools are really large and some are really small. Because we represent 1,200 local unions throughout the state, the process really depends on the region, sizing, how many teachers are in the school, and a myriad of other factors.”
If approved by voters for the November 2026 ballot, the new measure would prevent what supporters of the petition describe as a looming “funding cliff” for districts, estimated at $2 to $5 billion annually statewide. However, critics argue that the tax was originally intended as a temporary recession-era measure and warn that relying on a small number of wealthy taxpayers creates a volatile and unstable budget. Still, local educators and the CTA remain optimistic about the passing of the Prop.
“The likelihood that it’ll be on the ballot is really, really high,” Stavis said. “The organization of the petition that CTA is doing is amazing. That’s one of the strengths of CTA and of teachers’ unions, especially when we know it matters a lot to us. Part of the high likelihood can also be attributed to the fact that we’re in California, where a lot of people are really supportive of public education, so that gives me a lot of faith. For the most part, I think people in California appreciate taxes on the wealthiest individuals and most profitable companies for the purpose of other public services, such as public education.”
According to Stavis, if Prop 55 doesn’t pass on the November 2026 ballot, the November 2028 ballot still remains a significant opportunity for the CTA to pass it before the 2030 expiration. The CTA representative echoes Stavis’ sentiment and continues to emphasize and attributes much of CTA’s success so far to the strength and size of their union.
“We’re optimistic and hopeful,” the CTA representative said. “Obviously, guaranteeing school funding and making sure that California schools are fully staffed and stable and fully funded is a top priority for CTA, and we’re a 310,000 member union, and hopefully the strength of our union can come together and ensure that that happens.”
