My granddaughter, who sang with the Davis High Jazz Choir and was active in the drama department, became an actress and featured in plays in New York while attending NYU and graduate school.  My son-in-law also discovered his future career while attending Davis High and designing high school sets.  He majored in set design at NYU and was employed creating sets for TV productions.  My son-in-law came home to Davis each summer during college to build sets for our local theater companies.  He starts graduate school in scenic design at UC San Diego this fall.

My grandson currently attends college in the Bay Area, majoring in graphic design.  All Davis students should be offered music and arts enrichment programs, both at the elementary and secondary levels.  These programs also help students learn core subject matter and improve attendance.

Measure W will be on the ballot this coming November 4th, asking each property owner to pay an additional $120 annually to preserve existing school programs.  Apartment owners would pay $50 per unit.  Seniors (over 65) who own property can obtain an exemption from this tax, no matter what their income level, simply by filing a form.

Measure W will avoid layoffs of 27 existing Davis teachers, including math and science instructors, foreign language specialists, and librarians.  Measure W will preserve the reduction in class size for secondary English and math, so our students can succeed, either continuing their education or seeking employment.

Measure W is needed because the State has reduced funding for education in our District and Measure W will cover that loss in funding.  This supplemental tax will only last three years, to give our District time to properly plan the future educational program in light of changed economic conditions.  For these reasons, seniors should vote YES on Measure W.

Rose Calabria