Why MBEF supports Measure MB for school funding

The Manhattan Beach Education Foundation (MBEF) began in 1983 to support the public schools of Manhattan Beach. Executive Director Hilary Mahan shares how local funding from sources such as education foundations and parcel taxes have become critical to the success of districts like ours in California. 

MB United: Most residents of Manhattan Beach have seen the MBEF signs – on school fences, over intersections, and scattered around town in the yards of neighbors. What exactly does MBEF do? 

Hilary Mahan: The Manhattan Beach Education Foundation was founded in 1983 to ensure that all Manhattan Beach children have access to an excellent public-school education. Since its start four decades ago, MBEF has been the primary vehicle to supplement state funding to ensure that our schools are filled with programs and opportunities that would not otherwise be possible. Over the years, the collective commitment of generations of family’s support equates to over $100 million dollars and has built one of the best public-school districts in the country. Our schools are filled with opportunities that cultivate curiosity and grit with hands-on science lab and makerspace, creativity and discipline with a comprehensive music program, critical thinking and analytical skills with literacy, empathy and self-awareness with mentoring through additional counselors and support systems….the list goes on and on. 

MB United: Why would an affluent community like Manhattan Beach need supplemental funding? Don’t the high property taxes pay for our schools already?

Hilary Mahan: With the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978,  the percentage of local property tax dollars allotted for education spending statewide was significantly restricted.  The re-structuring of education funding had a dramatic impact on the source and amount of funding dedicated to education – moving California from 14th in the nation in per-pupil funding to 22ndalmost overnight. 

Since then, California’s heavy reliance on state income tax, which is more volatile than property tax, has made for a very challenging budgeting cycle. MBUSD receives approximately 70% of its revenue from the state’s Local Control Funding Formula , the current structure for determining the funding each district will receive. When this, and other funding, declines because of national or statewide economic factors, funding to our local schools diminishes as well. For example, this year MBUSD expects to receive approximately $11 million dollars less than the previous year, primarily because of the end of funding for one-time programs for Covid recovery from the state and federal governments and the significant decline in state revenue from income tax. This means MBUSD must find places to cut, and when over 80% of expenses are directly related personnel, this means cuts to important figures in our schools – teachers, specialists, aids, you name it. 

MB United: How does funding from MBEF fit into the District budget equation?

Hilary Mahan: The Manhattan Beach community came to rely upon donations to MBEF to serve as the primary source of revenue to supplement the inadequate funding from the state – so much so that it is now built into the MBUSD annual budget that is approved by the state. It is difficult, however, to maintain excellence in our schools with years of inadequate and unreliable funding from the state. Despite advocacy in Sacramento and increased fundraising on the part of MBEF, the continuous cycle of budgetary stress and uncertainty have taken their toll on our schools. Over the years, when state funding declines, MBEF donations have had to move away from augmenting education in our district with enrichment programs to simply retaining classroom teachers. In some budgetary years, the cuts have been prominent, in others, less so, but with time we have witnessed the lack of adequate funding slowly erode our foundation. This is a constant cycle that undermines efforts to grow efficacy in programming and educators. 

MB United: So how does a parcel tax and the renewal of Measure MB parcel tax fall into this discussion?

Hilary Mahan: Other districts in similar situations to Manhattan Beach began to build in local parcel taxes to create additional review streams that are locally controlled and unaffected by the dramatic fluctuations of the state early on. Despite an attempt in the early 2000’s, MBUSD’s first parcel tax was not passed until 2018 and has now become an important part of the revenue stream. 

Voters may recall another parcel tax on the ballot in 2020 called Measure A. The intention behind Measure A was to build local funding to a level where erratic fluctuations in state funding would not dramatically impact us and bring per pupil revenue closer to the state average. Voters resoundingly rejected Measure MB – whether the need was not clear at the time, the proposed level was too high, or any other reason – the measure did not pass.

On March 5, 2024, Manhattan Beach residents will decide on the renewal of the Measure MB parcel tax from 2018. The proposed tax would simply replace Measure MB, the current $225 per parcel tax expiring in June 2024, with no increases or changes. The District receives approximately $2.5 million from Measure MB, which pays for approximately 20 classroom teacher positions. Without this funding, the District is forced to find ways to cut expenses even more so. 

It will not be enough to prevent the fluctuations from the state from impacting MBUSD’s budget on a regular basis, but it is a vital source of local funding which provides approximately $2.5 million each year -- $2.5 million that is essential to maintaining our high-quality schools.

MBEF supports strong schools, a strong community, and is committed to our efforts to ensure that students continue to be empowered with high-quality programs in our community schools. We encourage all members of the community support the renewal of Measure MB.

If interested in learning more about school funding and MBEF’s efforts, please refer to the MBEF website at www.mbef.org. You can learn more about the proposed parcel tax at www.yes4measuremb.com.