Gov. Jerry Brown visited four cities on Tuesday — Los Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield and Fresno — to talk to local media and communities in support of his Proposition 30 tax initiative.

Brown spoke at the Fresno Area Electrical Training Center on behalf of the tax initiative that he described as “a stark choice for the people of California.”

The proposition’s passage would help balance the state budget and help prevent automatic spending cuts of about $6 billion, Brown said.

The measure — if passed by voters in the Nov. 6 election — would increase the state sales tax by a quarter of a cent and levy an increase on income taxes on the wealthy. The personal income tax on annual earnings over $250,000 would be in effect for seven years.

“It’s not about politicians. It’s not about me. It’s not about the legislature,” Brown said. “It’s about the kids, students and the future of our state.

“And it’s in your hands. The people make a choice: either yes, then the money flows into schools. Or no, and it flows out of schools by the billions.

“There’s no middle path here. Here, it’s absolute. ‘No’ extracts $6 billion. To me, it’s real simple. It’s profoundly important.”

Critics who are opposed to passing Brown’s tax initiative argue that the proposition does not guarantee new funding for public schools.

When asked whether it would, Brown said, “No doubt about it. Over the next four years, if Proposition 30 passes, the per-student funding will go up about $2,400.”

Both the California State University and University of California systems face $250 million budget cuts if Proposition 30 fails to pass. Both systems would increase tuition costs to help offset budget cuts — CSUs by $150 and UCs by 20.3 percent. California Community Colleges face a $338 million budget cut as well.

Fresno City College has lost more than 4,000 students the last three years, said Tony Cantu, the college’s president. Cantu attended Brown’s speech on Tuesday.

“If we’re going to continue to have an impact on the economy in the region, we need to continue to offer students those options that they so desperately need, not only to prepare themselves to transfer, but also to prepare them for the workforce,” Cantu said.

On Sept. 26, Fresno State’s Associated Students Inc. voted in favor of endorsing the tax initiative that “is obviously vital for the future of all education institutions,” said Sean Kiernan, ASI vice president of external student affairs.

The UC Board of Regents voted on July 18 to support the tax initiative.

In 2010, California ranked 35th in the nation on education per student (k- 12), according to information released by the US Census Bureau on June 21, 2012.

“This kind of investment is critical to ensuring California’s future economic well-being,” Congressman Jim Costa said.

“I think Proposition 30 guarantees, as a part of getting our state’s fiscal house in order, the appropriate spending level that is necessary to once again bring back California schools to its reputation of being one of the premier school systems in the country. It’s no longer that way today.”

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