By Melody Hanatani
Daily Press Staff Writer

MID-CITY As “Super Duper Tuesday” fast approaches and the $10 million question hangs in the balance, public schools advocates are galvanizing a campaign to promote a measure that would continue funding what many parents call critical curricular programs.

What’s at stake with the possible passage of Measure R on the Feb. 5 ballot is an estimated total of $10 million annually to supplement the operating budget of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, a sum that retains at least 53 teachers, supplies the school’s libraries with new materials and staff positions, and keeps the performing arts alive in the elementary school music program.

“Measure R provides vital local funding for our public schools and directly impacts our teachers, our classrooms and the students we serve,” said Harry Keiley, the president of the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association (SMMCTA).

Replaced by way of the voter’s approval would be the existing Measures S and Y parcel taxes, both of which brought in a combined total of $10.4 million a year for the 2007-08 school year. Measure S, which charges property owners a flat assessment of $225 per parcel, is set to expire in 2009, while Measure Y, which charges roughly $121 per parcel with an annual Consumer Price Index increase, is set to expire in 2011. The consolidated Measure R would supersede the two existing parcel taxes but would not have an expiration date, bringing in money to the district in perpetuity.

“It would keep our focus on the business of education rather than the business of getting these approved on a regular basis,” said Jan Maez, the chief financial officer for the school district.

While the election next month is focused on the statewide presidential primary — coinciding with elections in at least 22 other states — determining which candidates should ultimately receive their party nominations seems far from the mind of public education advocates.

Long-time district supporters, teachers, parents and even students have been campaigning to continue public school funding through parcel taxes, handing out leaflets in front of schools and cold-calling voters almost every night of the week at a phone bank located at the SMMCTA office on 18th Street.

Santa Monica parent Lisa Altman, who currently has two children in area public schools, has volunteered with the Measure R campaign for the past five weeks, enlisting the help of her three kids, one who graduated recently from Santa Monica High School and has tried to get her former high school peers involved.

“I have been in the Santa Monica [school district] for 14 years and I have eight more years to go,” Altman said. “Although the quality of schools is outstanding and outstanding for my kids, there are budgetary constraints they feel in their classroom every day.”

The recently formed Campaign to Protect Quality Public Schools — a collaborative including members from the teachers’ union, Parent Teacher Association and the Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS) — has operated about 28 phone lines out of the phone bank every night, including eight landlines and 20 cell phones, reaching out to the registered voters of Santa Monica and Malibu. The campaign is preparing to kick off its weekend precinct walks this weekend and intends to send out mailers in the weeks leading up to the election. The committee has raised about $200,000 for its campaign chest thus far to fund its nearly two month-long campaign.

“Local support is the life blood of the Santa Monica and Malibu schools,” said Rebecca Kennerly, PTA Council president.

While initial results from the phone bank seem to indicate that support is strong for the measure, not all residents are planning to throw in their support.

Mathew Millen, an attorney who lives in Santa Monica, said he intends to vote against the measure and questions why there isn’t an expiration date to the parcel tax, accusing the campaign for Measure R of misleading the public and failing to disclose that the tax continues forever.

He also refutes an argument made by the pro Measure R camp that the proposition would be a renewal of existing funding sources and not an added parcel tax.

“If the two measures it replaces have an expiration date, then how could this not be a tax increase?” Millen asked. “If it passes, all the money that I pay after the other ones will have expired to me is an increase because that money will not be in my pocket, it will be in the school district’s bank account.”

Instead of pushing forth a measure, City Hall, with its multi-million dollar budget, should allocate the $10 million to the school district instead of supporting “social services for non-resident homeless,” Millen added.

There were some questions as to the viability of the parcel tax measure passing after a group of Malibu residents expressed frustration over the allocation of Measure BB construction bond money in October, believing that Malibu High School was being shortchanged. During a Board of Education meeting in November, a visibly frustrated Malibu City Councilmember Andy Stern told the school board that he had heard from more than 100 parents who were no longer in favor of renewing the funding source. A two-thirds majority between the two municipalities is required for the measure to pass.

Shari Davis, the chair of the Campaign to Protect Quality Public Schools and president of CEPS, said there is a healthy level of support in both cities.

“We have strong support in Malibu,” said Davis. “The PTAs in Malibu have really come forward to work hard because they understand the impact of not having funding.”

melodyh@smdp.com