Rhetorical Analysis

Title: Cutting Corners on Education Legislation

Author: Ben Meade

Date: 30 September 2012

Topic: Proposition 30

Analysis of Argument

Exigence: The state of California's financial crisis has led to insecurity in funding for California public K-12 schools, Community Colleges, California State Universities and the University of California. Proposition 30 is a proposed amendment of the state constitution that would raise sales tax and income tax on earners above 250,000 dollars per year.

Intended Audience: The primary audience for this op-ed is supporters of Proposition 30. The secondary audience is those opposed to Proposition 30. The tertiary audience is undecided voters.

Purpose: To bring about awareness that Proposition 30 is incomplete, and invites problems we as a state will have to deal with again. This article is written with the intention of convincing writers to demand comprehensive reform concerning California public education.

Claims: Other government entitlements are allocated proportional to need, rather than proportional to revenue.

Public safety needs should be legislated separately.

Funds are not secure in allocation.

Rhetorical analysis:

Writer's Strategy 1: The Department of Veterans Affairs, and other states Department of Corrections facilities are one such example. Public education should be funded proportionately to need based on standards.

Writer's Strategy 2: A portion of the funds raised through Proposition 30 would go to public safety, like law enforcement. What does Law enforcement have to do with public education?

Writer's Strategy 3: Disproportionate taxation divides and alienates groups within California's constituency. This decreases it's chance of passing.

Reader effect 1: The reader chooses to support further legislation regardless of Proposition 30's passage concerning funding for public schools based on need rather than state revenue.

Reader effect 2: The reader chooses to support legislation solely for education, without additional provisions that the opposition may take advantage of.

Reader effect 3: Readers who face an income tax increase and those that don't choose to support future legislation based on taxation proportional to income for all tax brackets. Reader recognizes this increases the probability of success for the proposition.