4 Good Reasons to OPPOSE Proposition 54

Prop. 54 will eliminate public health programs that save lives

Public health prevention resources are targeted by race because some health problems affect different races disproportionately, and because cultural differences make different prevention approaches more effective with different groups.  For instance:

? Contra Costa health officials noted that African American women had a lower rate of detection of breast cancer than white women.  Through targeted outreach, the county achieved its goal of equalizing the rate of detection between African Americans and whites.  This preventative approach saves lives and taxpayer dollars.

? California state programs for teen pregnancy prevention credit dramatic drops in teen pregnancy to targeted programs which communicate differently to different groups of young people.  Prevention ads to Latinas are different than to white women because they respond to different media messages in different ways.  These prevention approaches, which would not be allowed under Prop. 54, prevent teen pregnancies and save taxpayers millions of dollars.

? Similar racial data is used in preventing tobacco use, HIV/AIDS and obesity just to name a few examples.

Prop. 54 will undermine accountability in school reform.

The California Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 is the state’s central school reform program.  It requires schools to set goals for student achievement and it demands accountability by instituting testing to measure achievement.

Racial data is a central part of the evaluation process.  It allows schools to determine whether some groups are improving more than others and it allows schools to target resources for the best overall improvement.  Without this measurement data, school reform would be stripped of accountability.

Prop. 54 will hinder law enforcement efforts

Hate crimes, racial profiling mitigation and community policing all rely on racial data of police officers, suspects and victims to carry out laws.  Community policing in particular, has great potential to prevent crimes and make law enforcement more effective.

Prop. 54 will wipe out civil rights enforcement

Without racial data, victims of discrimination in state employment or contracting won’t have the data needed to meet court standards in proving racial discrimination.  This initiative moves the debate beyond affirmative action and now makes discrimination protections impossible to enforce.  That’s why Prop. 209 author Tom Wood opposes the measure.