As a former educator at Malborough School and UCLA turned budding business owner of the turmeric-infused water beverage TuMe, Shaina Zaidi finds herself in a precarious situation when it comes to Proposition 55.

To vote yes or not to vote yes? That is her question.

A continuance of Prop. 30, Prop. 55 is a sequel that maintains the income tax increases for individuals making $260,000 or parties making $500,000 or more through 2030; an initiative the education system re-welcomes, but most of the wealthy and business owners can do without.

“I’m on the fence about Prop. 55,” Zaidi said. “While on one hand, I certainly disagree with cutting funding to public schools, I also don’t think the answer is higher taxation on those who essentially include the small business owner.”

In 2012, voters approved Prop. 30, a temporary tax put into effect as a Band-Aid to heal the recession mess and restore the damage done to schools. In effect, it has raised approximately $6 billion per year to date, averted the layoff of thousands of teachers, increased classes and student resources, and balanced school budgets. While Prop. 55 maintains the same income tax swell, it drops the sales tax increase.

But for people like Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Jarvis Taxpayer Foundation – which studies tax and economic issues – it isn’t good enough.

“A lot of people with small businesses will be affected,” he said. “We are so dependent on high income to keep our communities running. And people feel like this is an attack on their jobs and will feel pressured to leave the state. If this proposition becomes semi-permanent we will end up with fewer people to tax as they will leave.

“The state is running a $3 billion surplus. So the money could come from the state, they have more money,” he suggested.

The initiative is designed to assess a 1-percent increase for single income filings at $263,000. The fiscal impact of the accumulated income tax increase translates to 89 percent of funding allocated to K-12 schools, 11 percent to community colleges and up to $2 billion a year for healthcare programs. For schools, kindergarten through community college, it will result in not only additional higher-quality classes but will provide teachers and students alike with needed funding, granting proper resources for an all-round improved educational experience.

As of April 2015, a poll taken by the Public Policy Institute of California as well as joint polling from the USC Dornsife has shown support for Prop. 55 was steady at 57 percent, with only 35 percent in opposition.

With the “Yes on 55” campaign having the Democratic Party’s backing, it has been able to raise $57 million mainly from the California Teachers Association and the California Hospitals Committee on Issues, with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) also standing in solidarity.

While the suggestion of taking the funding from the state has been considered, it is viewed as merely a short-term plan for a long-term issue.

“My biggest concern if Proposition 55 does not pass is that schools across the state will not be able to have the resources to meet the hopes and aspirations of our students and our communities,” said Claudia Vizcarra, deputy chief of staff for LAUSD board of education president Steve Zimmer. “The stability and accountability that we have enjoyed for the last four years would be halted and we would return to an era of budget cuts and teacher layoffs.”

Having an initiative that will impact the lives of so many educators, students and business people has made it difficult for entrepreneurs like Zaidi to arrive at a conclusive decision. After having worked as the director of the Bruin Varsity Club for UCLA Athletics as well as the associate athletic director at Marlborough School, her concerns are weighted with the fact that she just launched her turmeric-infused water business one year ago and it has been picking up steam.

“As I see it, California takes in more tax dollars than we need each year and yet we still have over $9 billion in reserves,” Zaidi said. “We do need to pay attention to schools and the community and continue to support their growth, investing in our future, but perhaps not at the expense of hard working business owners. Either way, the system needs to improve, it needs to change.”