Billionaires Spend $300M Against Prop. 40 as Feds Probe SFUSD Course

Committees funded by Sergey Brin and other California billionaires have spent roughly $304 million opposing Proposition 40—a proposed one-time 5% wealth tax on California residents with a net worth of $1 billion or more—and promoting two competing ballot measures designed to nullify it, according to a campaign finance review by The San Francisco Standard. In a separate federal action reported by The San Francisco Standard, the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into whether ethnic studies courses in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), Palo Alto, and North Monterey County violated federal parental consent laws.

How $304 Million Was Spent Fighting Proposition 40

California’s wealthiest donors contributed more than $330 million to Building a Better California, directing about $304 million toward defeating Prop. 40 and passing competing Propositions 41 and 42, either of which would invalidate the billionaire tax if approved by voters on Nov. 3:

• $144 million on digital and television advertising: Roughly 86% of ad spending occurred in September and October, with nearly all media placement flowing through Pier 91 Media, an affiliate of Washington, D.C. political ad firm GMMB Inc.
• $99 million on signature gathering: Calabasas-based PCI Campaigns Inc., led by CEO Angelo Paparella, received more than $95 million to qualify Props. 41 and 42 between February and April at rates reaching up to $15 per signature.
• $47.5 million on mail, consultants, texts, and polling: Filings also show at least $23 million spent on mailers and postage, $22 million on consulting, $1.8 million on text messaging, and more than $750,000 on polling.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Department of Elections reported that 12.7% of mail-in ballots had been returned as of Sunday, and City Hall officials rallied Tuesday after U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian sent Elections Director John Arntz a letter flagging “441 likely aliens” on voter rolls—a move City Attorney spokesperson Jen Kwart called “clearly another ploy to interfere with the election very close to Election Day.”

U.S. Department of Education Probes SFUSD, Palo Alto, and North Monterey County

On the education front, the U.S. Department of Education announced Monday that it is investigating whether SFUSD’s mandatory ninth-grade ethnic studies course violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment by requiring students to complete an “identity wheel” exercise examining race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and economic status without prior written parental consent.

Frank Miller, director of the Education Department’s Student Privacy Policy Office, said the agency is also investigating the Palo Alto and North Monterey County school districts over similar parental notification questions and warned that violations could jeopardize federal funding. SFUSD School Board President Phil Kim said board members had not yet been briefed on the inquiry. For the current school year, SFUSD replaced its earlier homegrown ethnic studies curriculum with a new curriculum titled “Voices” under Superintendent Maria Su.