Prop. 82 taxes rich to pay for preschool

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published May 8, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

California Proposition 82 would create a preschool program by taxing wealthy individuals and couples. It's one of two statewide measures on next month's ballot. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more

California Proposition 82 would create a preschool program by taxing wealthy individuals and couples. It's one of two statewide measures on next month's ballot.
KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more

Maryann O'Sullivan is the founder of Preschool California. O'Sullivan says the measure would provide money for early education at a time when children are eager to learn:

O'Sullivan: "By taking advantage of that and using really developmentally appropriate tools, so really learning through play activities we can get kids ready, so that when they get to kindergarten and first grade, they're really to ready to read and ready to learn what K-12 holds for them."

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But Lance Izumi, a spokesman for the Pacific Research Institute, disagrees:

Izumi: "The research evidence to support the connection between preschool and long-term academic achievement by students is either weak or in many cases nonexistent, which makes the high cost and the tax increases contained in the initiative unjustifiable."

Izumi and O'Sullivan debated Proposition 82 on the KPBS radio program "These Days."

The measure would add a 1.7 percent tax on individual incomes above $400,000 and for couples earning more than $800,000. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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