It’s almost impossible for us to fathom how people could vote against Proposition 30. It’s a no-brainer for voters and polit icians to get this proposition passed, and letting it fall through the cracks would show a complete disregard for education in our state.

Saying no to $5.5 billion is simply a luxury we cannot aff ord. If there is any chance you are considering no on 30, then please allow us to educate you on the consequences we face at SRJC if the proposition does not pass this November.

A lot of students who still attend SRJC were here when the school lost 12 percent of its funding in 2009. Since then, it has become increasingly diffi cult each year for students to enroll in the classes they need to graduate. It’s fair to assume the majority of SRJC students aren’t planning to stay for four years but they may have to if Proposition 30 fails.

It’s no laughing matter when students are faced with losing more classes here at the JC. If 30 fails, the JC will take a $6.3 million hit in funding. A cut this big amounts to about 10 percent of our schools financial resources as a whole. Losing that much money will immediately eliminate 530 class sections as early as next semester. In addition, an estimated 2,920 students won’t be able to attend the JC all together.

How are students supposed to move on with their academic careers if we can’t get the classes we need to graduate, let alone attend school in the first place?

Without Proposition 30 it will not only be harder to get classes, but harder to pay for them. That’s right, more tuition hikes. The UC system expects to raise tuition upwards of 20 percent, and the CSU system expects to admit significantly fewer students after their tuition hikes.

The opposition claims that small business owners will face large tax increases on their personal income. This is a complete overreaction, as people who are making more than $250,000 a year, but less than $300,000 will see an increase to 10.3 percent from the original 9.3 percent. And people making from $500,000 to $1 million a year will see an increase to 12.3 percent from the original 9.3 percent. This is chump change for people making such copious amounts of money.

Other opponents believe that schools haven’t cut enough. Any lawmaker who can say this with a straight face deserves an award for the greatest poker face of all time. With all joking aside, it is erroneous to conclude we could possibly aff ord to cut more from our schools.

It’s difficult to see the harm in such miniscule taxes, considering it will raise an estimated $6 billion for California schools at the expense of the wealthy paying an extra buck on their iPhone 5s. We need these classes and we need somewhere to go after we graduate. No one wants school to become less aff ordable, so let’s do something about it. Vote yes on 30.