CTA President David A. Sanchez released the following statement about the defeat of May 19 ballot measures:
Burlingame – “California teachers are deeply concerned about how the failure of Propositions 1A-1E will impact students, schools and California’s future. We understand that voters are very frustrated with the economy, the state budget process, and with some lawmakers - so are educators. But the failure of these initiatives only hurts the more than 9 million students in our public schools and colleges.
“Our public schools have already taken more than $11.6 billion in cuts – more than 50 percent of the total state budget cuts and the single largest cut to public education since the Great Depression. Taking more funds from our schools will only mean larger class sizes, more school closures, more cuts to vital student programs, higher college fees and fewer educators to give students the help they need. In March over 27,000 pink slips were issued to teachers, and hundreds more are being prepared. It’s time for lawmakers to make public education and protecting our children’s future a top priority.
“The defeat of Proposition 1B is particularly disappointing for the future of our students and schools. The $9.3 billion that was scheduled to be repaid to schools in Prop. 1B is still owed to education. This was a manipulation of Proposition 98, the minimum school funding law passed by voters over 20 years ago, and CTA will be taking all legal action required to ensure students, schools and community colleges get the funding required by law, and that they deserve.”