Contact: Sandra Jackson at 916-801-4776 or Frank Wells at 562-708-5425
Burlingame – The California Teachers Association launches a statewide radio campaign today spotlighting lawmakers' failure to act as California slides further to the bottom of the nation in funding for public education. The spots, airing in English and Spanish, criticize politicians for avoiding California's budget crisis while the state and our public schools sink further into despair.
“California recently sank to 47th in per-pupil funding, according to Education Week’s Quality Counts, a ranking that doesn't even take into account the most recent round of budget cuts. This is completely unacceptable,” says David A. Sanchez, president of the California Teachers Association.
The governor's latest plan would cut $10.8 billion from public education over the next 18 months after 5,000 teachers have already been laid off, class sizes have increased, school libraries have closed, and other important programs have received cuts, the ad says.
“The governor's proposal also eviscerates Proposition 98, the voter-approved minimum school funding law, and would create a permanent $7 billion to $9 billion cut to education year after year,” says Sanchez.
The radio spots conclude with a call for lawmakers to take action now. "It's time to break the silence, time for the governor and the Legislature to fix the budget and fund our schools—because high-quality schools mean a stronger California for everyone."
The spots begin today and will air on 70 radio stations statewide, including Spanish and Asian-language stations. The spots can also be found on CTA’s website at www.cta.org.