Voters in northern Alameda County will get a chance to reauthorize an important funding source for the Peralta Community College District in the June 2 election. 

Measure A would extend by nine years the life of an existing $48 annual parcel tax which, if approved by two-thirds of voters, would raise $8 million a year for the four-college system. 

“As the cost of U.C., Cal State, and private colleges continues to skyrocket, YES on A ensures students continue to save thousands of dollars and avoid high-interest debt,” according to the ballot argument submitted in favor of the measure. 

No argument opposed to Measure A was submitted to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters Office. 

Currently, tuition at a Peralta college is about $1,100 per year, compared to about $6,500 for Cal State schools and nearly $14,000 for schools in the University of California system. 

The Peralta schools include Berkeley City College, the College of Alameda and Oakland’s Laney and Merritt colleges.

The $8 million raised by Measure A could only be spent to support job training programs, student services and academic classes throughout the system.

Currently the money is often used to hire part-time instructors so the college system can add additional sections for classes that students need for their degrees. 

The funds can’t be spent on hiring administrators.

If Measure A passes, it will be the third time voters have given the green light to the parcel tax, which helps support the college system’s roughly $140 million annual general fund budget. 

If approved, the funds will be monitored by an independent citizens’ oversight committee and independent financial and performance audits. 

A Peralta spokesperson said the money supports a critical piece of the state’s higher education landscape and emphasized the system’s affordability and the fact that students are taught by instructors who aren’t graduate students working on their PhDs. 

“It’s kind of a better experience for students all the way around,” said Mark Johnson.  

So far, the Yes on Measure A campaign has raised about $148,000 in donations, with a lot of support coming from Bay Area labor unions, according to disclosure documents filed with Alameda County.  

For more information about Measure A, people can visit peraltayesona.com or www.peralta.edu/measure-a. 

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.