One of the seven propositions on the ballot for California this Nov. 8 is Prop. 28, which will require 1% of Prop. 98 funding, a proportion of the state budget dedicated for public school and community colleges, to be spent on arts and music education. If passed, this would designate approximately $1 billion annually to arts education without raising taxes. Prop. 28 is the only statewide ballot proposition without a formally registered “con” statement this year. Supporters hope that Prop. 28 will address disparities by operating as an equity measure. Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (CA-18) wrote in an email to The Daily that the proposition “will help level the playing field between public schools, especially, in lower income districts, and private schools when it comes to the fine arts.” Will Prop. 28 really have these broad equity impacts? Stanford Professor of Education and former Executive Director of Policy Analysis for California Education David Plank is not so sure. “It will make a difference at the margins, but it will probably be a relatively small difference,” Plank said. He explained that hiring new teachers can be costly and Prop. 28 funding, unless supplemented by other school funds, may not be enough to bring on the additional staff needed to see large equity impacts. “As schools have been called upon to do more and more, they have cut back on things that seem less important. And one of the things that has suffered particularly in high poverty school districts is art and music programs,” Plank said.