Contact: Mike Myslinski at 650-552-5324
Already Facing More Cuts, Educators Join Nationwide Call-In Blitz
BURLINGAME — Thousands of California teachers joined a nationwide call-in blitz to Congress today to warn that financially strapped school districts already facing severe funding cuts and collateral damage from the state’s $20 billion budget deficit would face even deeper cuts if the Senate’s proposed excise tax on health benefits is approved.
"At a time when our public schools are suffering from $17 billion in cuts over the last two years, the Senate’s proposal to tax health benefits to pay for national reforms would cost our school districts tens of millions of dollars,” said David A. Sanchez, president of the 325,000-member California Teachers Association. “This proposed tax on middle class health benefits would impact California’s students, teachers, education support professionals and many working families already coping with hard economic times.”
Joining a call-in blitz today coordinated by the 3.2 million-member National Education Association, CTA members are telling their local representatives in Congress that the tax is wrong, and that any final reforms should reduce costs by including a public health care option. California school districts could pass along to educators the massive increased costs caused by any health benefit excise tax or severely reduce health coverage – making it harder to recruit and retain new teachers. CTA estimates of how hard the tax would hit school districts annually are alarming. A sampling:
Southern California
- Los Angeles Unified, $46 million
- Orange Unified, $4.7 million
- Long Beach Unified, $11.3 million
- ABC Unified, $9.7 million
- Rialto Unified, $7.9 million
- Compton Unified, $3.8 million
- Fontana Unified, $3.5 million
- Walnut Valley Unified, $3 million
- Chula Vista Elementary, $9.1 million
Central Valley
- Fresno Unified, $6.6 million
- Ceres Unified, $2.9 million
Northern California
- San Francisco Unified, $6.7 million
- San Ramon Valley Unified, $7.3 million
- Fremont Unified, $6.3 million
- Palo Alto Unified, $4.4 million
- Elk Grove Unified, $7.2 million
- Natomas Unified, $3.7 million
Information about today’s national call-in blitz and a list of how much the tax might cost more than 100 California school districts are posted at www.cta.org.