By snoadmin
Oil companies have held a monopoly on our country for far too long. Big oil states like Texas and Alaska have already taken note of this vital revenue source, bringing in billions of dollars each year with their individual extraction fees. We believe it’s about time Californians jump on the bandwagon and start demanding a cut from the very companies profiting from our lucrative shores.
The California education system is in a hole. And unfortunately for our exhausted lawmakers, no number of budget cuts or layoffs will ever be enough to dig us out. With California State University students being forced to take out more loans to afford the 15 percent tuition increase, and community college students wondering if it’s really worth preparing themselves for a staggering 38 percent addition, it’s difficult to imagine that at one point our schools once held envy of the world.
Lawmakers may be working tirelessly to fix the deficit, but by reducing the funding for education —along with other programs, they are prompting us for an even bigger dip in economic failure. Peter Mathews —the lead proponent behind the “Oil Extraction Fee To Rescue Education” initiative — believes education is the foundation for a strong economy. And he has a list of historical fluctuations to back him up.
When public higher education was virtually free in the 1960s, California’s economy grew to the fifth largest in the world, according to Mathews. Now, California has fallen in rank to eighth in the world, which Mathews claims is due to a lack of investment in both education and technology. His proposal could return us to prosperity.
At the current price of oil, a 15 percent extraction fee could have raised $150 billion by this time. That is a lot of money that could have possibly prevented class section cuts and staff layoffs. According to Mathews, this type of fee is already the “economic standard [in] every major oil producing state and nation around the world.” Proponents of the initiative have had no trouble finding other countries that have successfully employed oil companies to fund the state budget. Even in surrounding states, these methods have proved extremely beneficial.
As perfect as his plan sounds, there are also reasons to be skeptical. How can we be sure the money goes to the right place? And what if the oil companies simply do not agree to it?
The proposal states that a 15 percent extraction would be solely appropriated for non-capital purposes, including the K-12 system, which would be given approximately $1.08 billion. For the CSU system — made up of about 412,000 students, they would be awarded $400 million. The initiative would also forbid any further reduction in regular education funding in anticipation of the additional revenue. The State Attorney General would also tightly monitor oil companies should they seek any means to navigate around the law. In that case, a penalty fee equal to the amount they dodged would be imposed. Should it pass, oil companies would provide a reliable source of revenue for our starving schools.
California’s K-12 spending per student has dropped to 43rd out of 50 in the United States. We can see where the money isn’t, and that’s in the body of schools desperate for state funding. And instead of blaming oil companies for hurting our country, let us instead profit from their cause. Mathews believes that “passage of this proposition will once again ensure a bright future for [those]… who have to compete in the new global economy.”
Let us return to the days when public higher education was virtually free. If the oil companies hold a monopoly over the price of gas, is it too much to ask that we as Californians fight for that same monopoly over the price of education?
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