Oakland: Officials want to raise more preschool funding through new parcel tax

East Bay leaders said Wednesday they want to improve Oakland’s preschools and make them more affordable through a new parcel tax on the November ballot.

The proposed measure, called the Oakland Children’s Initiative, would raise about $30 million annually for the next 30 years for early-childhood education and a “cradleto-college” program championed by Mayor Libby Schaaf that aims to increase university attendance and completion by city students.

The measure’s supporters will begin this weekend collecting the 35,000 signatures necessary for placement on the ballot.

At a news conference rolling out the initiative, Schaaf called the city’s racial disparities in kindergarten readiness and educational attainment “shameful statistics.”

Just 15 percent of Oakland students go on to earn a college degree within six years of graduating high school. And assessments show that while 82 percent of white children in the city are considered “kindergarten-ready,” only 29 percent of Latino kids and 36 percent of African American kids meet the same marker.

“We know that this is the best investment that our community can make, and by making it as the voters of Oakland, no one can take it away from us — no matter who’s in the White House or who’s in the statehouse,” said Schaaf, who has publicly butted heads with the Trump administration in recent weeks over immigration and sanctuary-city issues.

The tax at $198 per property would exempt low-income, senior and affordable-housing units. It requires the approval of two-thirds of voters to pass.

Most of the funds raised would go to Oakland’s Head Start and state-funded preschools. Proponents say the money would help create scholarships for low-income families and improve facilities, among other efforts.

Alameda County has a complementary measure headed to voters earlier, on the June ballot, that would raise funds for preschools in the county through a half-cent sales tax.

“We’re not where we need to be. Until we have universal preschool for every single California child, I’m not going to be happy,” said Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, who’s co-chairing the children’s initiative with Schaaf.

Bonta said the biggest hurdle will be overcoming “tax fatigue,” with a large number of expected local revenuegenerating initiatives up for a vote this fall.