We support Measure W, as parents of an elementary school student, as local business owners, as homeowners, and as people who care about the fabric of Davis and social capital of our connected world.

There is a basic structural problem with school funding in California that promises continued shortfalls for our district. There is no question that some choices by past school trustees and administrators are open to criticism. A vote against Measure W will not solve state budget problems, which flow from 30-year old property tax "reforms," complex funding formulas, and declining tax revenues. A "no" vote also will not undo the poor choices of former trustees and administrators in Davis: buildings have been built, funds have been spent, and decision makers are gone.

We encourage everyone who is still weighing their Measure W vote to focus on the present and the future. The schools in Davis are a community asset: they bring families, they support home values even now, they provide a high-quality education without the cost of private school tuition, and they build social capital that is an essential resource for our joint future.

Responsibility for protecting our community asset, and our future, is not limited to current parents. Everyone has a stake: parents and grand-parents of former and current students, unmarried homeowners, and college students. We particularly encourage our neighbors whose families have benefited in the past not to turn away from those following behind. We need every vote, every voter, to meet the two-thirds standard, and hope you will set aside frustration or anger about the past—which we understand—and find a way to make a commitment for the future.

Pamela Pacelli
Michael Harty