Santa Monica has always backed its public schools, and voters take every new tax seriously. So the questions neighbors are asking about Measure ES are fair ones: Why now? Why a parcel tax? Why permanent? As an SMMUSD parent, PTA volunteer and member of the district’s Financial Oversight Committee, I’ve spent more than 8 years following the District’s budget. Here are straight answers that I hope clarify some questions.
Why now?
For more than 20 years, the City has paid the school district about $12 million a year under its Master Facilities Use Agreement. That agreement ends June 30, 2027. It was always discretionary, renewed one term at a time.
The City has been clear about what comes next. Its Realignment Plan, adopted unanimously last October to close a structural deficit, already assumes the payment ends. The City’s latest staff report says that if Measure ES fails, its plan is to stop paying, and that continuing would require “service level reductions” elsewhere.
So the choice isn’t “your money or your schools.” A No vote doesn’t make the $12 million question go away. It only decides whether the gap lands on classrooms or on City services.
Why can’t the district absorb it?
That $12 million is about 7% of the district’s main operating revenue, roughly the cost of 73 teachers. The district already projects deficits through 2028-29, and those projections still assume the City keeps paying. Any Reserves can bridge a gap one time but can’t replace a payment that stops for good.
Why a parcel tax?
Because it replaces the old arrangement with something stable and consistent. Under the measure’s text:
• The money goes only to SMMUSD. The City can’t redirect it and the state can’t take it.
• None of it can go to administrator salaries, land or new buildings.
• An independent audit is required every year.
• Seniors who live in their homes are exempt, and most renters pay nothing.
• City and school budgets are no longer tied together, so neither depends on the other’s bad year.
Community access continues. State law and a May 2026 school board resolution keep fields, gyms and playgrounds open either way. If ES passes, City staff say they will return with a new facilities agreement built around the new funding.
Why permanent?
Because the district’s need is permanent. Schools hire teachers and plan programs years ahead, and a payment that must be renegotiated every few years makes that harder. Voters can still amend or repeal ES, and the PTA Council has recommended that the City revisit it once City finances recover.
The bottom lineFor over two decades, a big piece of our schools’ budget has depended on a deal with the City, renewed one term at a time. That deal is ending. We can spend the next year arguing over who should have paid, while teachers and families wait to find out what gets cut – Or – we can do what Santa Monica has always done: decide that great public schools are worth protecting. Measure ES gives our students a stable source of funding in uncertain times, and gives the City room to steady its own budget. That’s not the easy choice. It is the responsible one.
The author is an SMMUSD parent, PTA volunteer, a member of the district’s Financial Oversight Committee and participates with CEPS. The author is writing as an individual, and not a member of any of these groups.
