The Fight of Our Generation: Putting Schools and Communities First

About

Schools and Communities First is a historic effort to reform Proposition 13 and restore over $11 billion a year for services that all Californians rely on like schools and community colleges, social services, libraries, and health clinics. Conceived and championed by those communities most impacted by decades of disinvestment, Schools and Communities First is one of several opportunities for California for advance bold, long-term structural reforms rooted in equity and inclusion that can serve as a model for the rest of the country.

Change of this magnitude requires a deep and expansive voter engagement strategy and a concrete narrative centered on a vision for racial, economic, environmental, and health equity in California. Schools and Communities First offers an unprecedented opportunity to channel resistance into real political power. Leaning on a robust public education campaign to shift California’s narrative from exclusion to inclusion and decades of experience expanding the state’s diverse electorate, a broad coalition of community-based organizations, labor, and local government have come together roll back 40 years of disinvestment in our schools and local communities. As a critical partner in advancing equity throughout the state, philanthropy can play a pivotal role in achieving the goals of this initiative.

Join our panel of experts for this special funder briefing to learn:

• How Schools and Communities First will reinvest over $1.5 billion back into the East Bay and what that means for local communities;
• The role that local community-based organizations will play in building real political power among voters of color, young voters, immigrant voters, and low-income voters across the state; and
• How funders can play a critical role in supporting the voter engagement efforts and public education campaign necessary to make Schools and Communities First as success.