Dear Editor:
I am very concerned that concerned parents are being tricked about the city’s real intentions with Prop YY.  Many people have been pointing out that YY has no legal authority, and is merely a suggestion, however YY has a much more fundamental problem.  The supporters have been implying that YY asks City Council to double the city’s current annual contribution to the school district.  But that is not what Prop YY says.  YY only asks City Council to split the income from the proposed new transaction and use tax; there is no request that the new revenue be added to the existing contributions from the general fund.  Remember the California lottery.  Remember all the public school supporters lining up to tell us how it was going to be providing a whole bunch of additional funding for the schools.  Well, today all the lottery profits do go to the schools, however the schools contribution from the state’s general fund, has been reduced by an amount equal the profits from the lottery, making the net benefit for the schools — zero.  Think how easy it will be for city staff to say that now that the school district has its own source of funding, it no longer needs to share in the city’s general fund.

Jeff Segal
Santa Monica