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Editor: A recent letter by John Cecil contained erroneous statements about about Berkeley public school ballot Measures AA and BB. It is important to correct those errors so that Berkeley voters can understand what is at stake. 

Thanks to community support of the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project Measure (BSEP) in 1987, K-6 class sizes were reduced to 26 students. At that time the district had enough classrooms. Two things have happened since then which have put a strain on classroom facilities. First, when the refurbished school buildings began to reopen the Berkeley public school student population began to grow, increasing to an additional 20 percent. This need for more classrooms brought about by growth is especially acute at Berkeley High. Also, the State instituted a program to reduce K-3 class sizes to 20. The state provides only a fraction of the funds necessary, but for Berkeley it was nearly enough because its class size was formerly at 26. The state program does not pay for the additional classrooms required. Because of this program and the growing number of students, Franklin School has been reopened. It needs much work to bring it up to the level of the other elementary schools. 

In short, the Berkeley school community is asking the Berkeley voters to provide its students – elementary, middle school, and high school – with adequate classroom space and other needed facilities and to ensure that they are adequately maintained. Measures AA and BB will address these needs. For details see “www.bcsss.com.” 

I leave the reader to weigh the concern about the use of word “income” instead of “revenue.” Mr. Cecil is having to scrape hard to find fault in the case for AA and BB. 

Bruce Wicinas 

Berkeley 

Editor: 

The case for AA  

AA proposes a school bond that will allow us to undertake the unfinished work of rebuilding our schools. We are still have many buildings that are old and run down to the point where they create a negative environment for teaching and learning. There is work to be done at the High School, King Middle, our wonderful Adult School, Franklin and more. Sooner or later we are going to have to do these jobs and it might as well be now. The reason is that we already have a successful building program in place. Our current administration has delivered both beautiful buildings and meaningful improvements in student test scores, at the same time! And this has been accomplished at a time of increasing enrollment. That’s an impressive achievement!  

The case for BB 

BB is a parcel tax that will provide adequate funds for maintenance. I can”t bear to see our beautiful new properties looking prematurely worn, our new equipment fail for lack of timely maintenance or repair, our landscaping wither and die. State funding for maintenance is simply not enough to do the job right and this community will not tolerate using scarce educational dollars to make up the shortfall. BB will create a 12 year endowment for maintenance which will protect our capital investment and provide a positive environment for teaching and learning. Vote for BB to make sure that we can provide for our children’s health, education and welfare.  

Shirley Issel 

School Board Director 

AA, BB and more 

Editor: 

Where does the Parent Teacher Association stand on the elections? I’d like to share the views of the California State PTA and the Berkeley PTA Council in regards to issues on the November ballot. 

No on Proposition 38 - Vouchers: The School Voucher Initiative does nothing to add funding to the public schools, and could potentially divert funding that might otherwise be directed towards public education.  

Yes on Proposition 39 - School Improvement and Accountability Act: Prop. 39 is a California State Constitutional Amendment that would lower the vote requirement for the passage of local school facilities bond measures from 66 percent to 55 percent and would also enact new accountability standards.  

Yes on Local Measures AA & BB: This is supported by the Berkeley PTA Council, and school site PTA”s. Measure AA will raise $116.5 million dollars for the Berkeley schools. These monies will be used to continue the rehabilitation of our school facilities. More classrooms, cafeterias and kitchens. Needed safety and heating systems. Adequate infrastructure to accommodate technology. AA will not increase our tax rate, it only extends the maximum tax rate from the 1992 bond measure. Measure BB funds by law would be dedicated to school maintenance. During the first year, Measure BB will raise $3.8 million and will cost most homeowners around $60 a year. There is no other foreseeable source of funding for a standard level of maintenance services, with the exception of cutting our precious academic programs. We urge you to vote YES on Measures AA & BB 

See more about the PTA Council & Berkeley schools at our Web page, http://berkeleypta.org/ 

Mark A. Coplan, President 

Berkeley PTA Council