Editor’s Note: The following are letters to the editor written by Pitman High School students as part of a Mock Election Unit in U.S. Government classes.
Prop 32 will contribute to inflation
Dear Editor,
Do you enjoy seeing higher costs and fewer jobs? We the people need to wake up and realize that Proposition 32 does not only mean more money. In fact it's quite the opposite, passing this Proposition will contribute to inflation and add to the high cost of living in California. Many businesses can’t afford to pay higher wages, some might be forced to close or cut down the number of employees. As a teen in California, it is a struggle trying to find businesses that want young workers with no experience. Raising the minimum wage will cause them to become more selective and make jobs that were once considered “teen summer jobs” a difficult position to achieve. Voting no on Proposition 32 will save many people from losing their jobs and assist in slowing down the raging inflation California is dealing with. Vote no on proposition 32.
— Carmen Barajas
Prop 2 will help students be successful
Dear Editor,
A school is a place that educates children, preparing them for adulthood and the world. However, what if schools have poor conditions, leaky roofs, and inadequate hygiene? Do you think students want to attend such a place? I don't think so. Public schools and colleges receive funding from their districts and states. They have half the amount needed for renovations and upgrades, but the other half must be paid with local funds. Sometimes, they don't have enough funds to cover these costs. Proposition 2 will assist public schools and community colleges. It will allocate $8.5 billion to public schools and $1.5 million to community colleges. This funding will enable public schools to make necessary upgrades and ensure a safe and healthy environment for students. Additionally, it will allow community colleges to expand their course offerings, making it possible for more students, including those from low-income families, to pursue higher education. Students are the country's future, and as a student, I want to be successful in my life. I want to study more and get into my dream career. I think this proposition will help students get into their dream careers, get future jobs, and be successful. Vote “Yes” on Proposition 2 if you want your public schools and community colleges to be upgraded.
— Ekjot Johal
Prop 34 protects patient
Dear Editor,
Imagine yourself as a mother living a life of poverty, struggling each day to find food to put on the table, a job to provide for your children, or simply finding a way to travel around town. Medicare, a federal health insurance program that has a large assortment of services given to citizens to keep them healthy, is just one of many. However, the service is practically reserved for those who can afford it and turn away those who can not. There are other places that provide those services to those who are rejected healthcare. Yet, those medicare providers abuse the distribution of medicine. Proposition 34 puts forward the idea of protecting patients who fall victim to these programs and find themselves in an unfair stage in life by those abusing the use of the given opportunities, like Michael Weinstein. The proposition is advocating for a more just and equitable healthcare system where the advantages of medical advancements are distributed more fairly by endorsing this proposal. I implore you to think about how Prop 34 could improve the lives of many people. By passing it, it can ensure that healthcare providers are held responsible for using their resources in ways that can actually improve patient outcomes and prevent those using it for negative uses and self gain.
— Tusi Elisaia
Prop 2 will help underfunded schools, like Keyes Elementary
Dear Editor,
Living and growing up in Keyes, I can say it gets scarier and scarier to go out after 7pm. Having attended Keyes Elementary and Spratling Middle School, I can see that the schools there are in more poverty stricken areas with lower funding. Spratling is a small school of only about 300 students, only in the past year have they adopted a music class and began building a track area. Before then, they only seemed to have the necessary classes with about just one teacher for each subject and no room for any electives. When I was there, for PE, we had to run around the entire school four times in place of our mile. In the elementary, they only recently, in the last few years, renovated the playground for the kids. For many students like me, it did become more frustrating as we grew and realized we didn’t have much access to the same opportunities as other kids when we were just as capable. This is why I'm asking everyone to vote YES on Proposition 2, to fund schools like these and allow them opportunities to enrich their educational experiences.
— Samantha Garcia Ulloa
Prop 32 is a shallow fix
Dear Editor,
Do you know what I find sad? A bunch of people who constantly complain about prices rising yet proceed to propose something that will only slightly help before raising prices even more. This is referring to Proposition 32, a ballot that if passed will raise minimum wage to 18 dollars an hour. While on the surface level this change could help many with paying off expenses but this is a shallow fix. If the minimum wage is increased then prices will eventually go up as well and if that happened then the wage increase would be useless. Don't believe me? On January 1st, 2024 California pushed a law that minimum wage would be changed to 16 dollars an hour. And yet here we are later in the year choosing to up the wage once again hoping that this time the problem will be fixed. As mentioned before, the minimum wage increase would also cause prices to increase. This has been seen in fast food places such as McDonalds, Chipotle, and Chick-Fil-A. It’s obvious to me that this ballot should not be taken into effect and instead California and the Government should work on decreasing prices, although that is easier said than done.
— Christiano Barkhoy
Prop 4 helps Californians deal with extreme weather
Dear Editor,
Do you care about the way natural disasters affect our environment? I believe that safe drinking water and wildfire prevention in our climate is very important to not only California but the whole United States. Proposition 4 wants to authorize $10 billion to fund these protections against natural disasters. As Californians, it’s not new to us that we have extreme weather due to climate change. We have all seen the way a small flame can take over our environment and the devastation families and their loved ones experience. Because of this, it is important to be able to help fund our firefighters and the National Wildlife Federation to protect these habitats. Not only does this proposition focus on fire, it also focuses on the preservation of water. California has been in a drought for many years now, so it is important for us to be able to have the funds to maintain enough water for our growing population. Not only will prop four focus on the majority of the population, they will also make sure many of the disadvantaged cities are receiving access to clean drinking water. Overall, proposition four is a great way to ensure that all Californians are receiving the protection and necessities they need. Vote yes!
— Madeline Bergman
Prop 5 means less availability for funding public services
Dear Editor,
Do you want the world to come to an end? With Proposition 5, this brings less availability to funding public services. Proposition 5 affects only people 55 years of age and older, victims of natural disaster, and severely disabled as well as the overall revenue for local governments. This causes them to transfer their property tax base from their current home to a new home, possibly saving these select people money on taxes. With this being said it highly affects our community and the people around them, making property taxes raised. In other words, higher cost of living. Families may not be financially able to afford raised property taxes which could cause missed payments resulting in a loss of their home. Would you want debt piled onto you as a resident? Absolutely not. Proposition 5 is exactly for putting the world into debt so why vote for Proposition 5? Meaning it would allow the two-thirds requirement to go down to a 55 percent requirement. Overall, this opens opportunities for local governments to abuse their power by cutting their voting percentage requirement which could put many at financial risk and create new debt.
— Zoey Darner
Prop 2 does not focus on the right issues
Dear Editor,
We are focusing on the wrong issues. Proposition 2 proposes the idea of issuing $10 billion dollars towards the modernization of educational facilities in taxpayer bonds. These bonds will have to be paid off over a span of 35 years with $500 million being paid off per year. In the end, that's $18 billion dollars coming from the taxpayers’ pockets, OUR pockets. Mind you, this prop does not correlate with the issue of teacher salaries. I argue that paying our teachers who teach our youth is more important. Currently there are roughly 55,000 unfilled teaching positions in the United States. I have talked with several teachers who teach in Turlock, California, and most, if not all of them are much more angry at their low pay than anything. According to California's Department of Education, the statewide average salary for public school teachers is $95,610. Overall, I think it's safe to assume that this proposition would be very unpopular and that we are focusing on the wrong issues with public education.
— Jacob Huiskens
Prop 36 helps create safer communities
Dear Editor,
I am outraged by the lack of punishment people receive for their actions. People are distributing illegal drugs, and getting away with theft with little consequences and this can't stand. By voting yes on Proposition 36 this mistake can be changed by increasing the sentences for theft based on the value stolen. By voting yes it will also make it so that certain drug related charges will be considered felonies instead of misdemeanors, making it so that people don't just get off scotch free for three actions. You may be thinking “How does this affect our community?” By voting yes on this proposition you will be helping create a safer, more welcoming environment for all people to live. Some people may say that it will make the jails too crowded but I believe this is not the case because by voting yes it will discourage people from committing these crimes in the first place because of the increased repercussions. In summary you should vote yes on Proposition 36 because it will make us safer and make people take responsibility for their actions.
— Michael Lewis
