Contact Robin Swanson (916) 204-6890
More to Come as March 15th Layoff Notice Looms and Class Sizes Continue to Rise
As the Senate Budget Subcommittee holds a hearing today with the Legislative Analyst’s Office and the Department of Finance about education funding, the Education Coalition would like to remind legislative leaders of the promise they made to California’s students in July to restore the $11.2 billion in cuts, as required by law, under the voter-approved minimum school funding guarantee, Prop 98.
The Education Coalition urges lawmakers to uphold their votes and keep their promise to California’s students to restore funding to our schools and stop the cuts. An entire generation of children would be hurt by the proposed cuts, which is why tens of thousands of students, educators and others who care about public schools rallied across the state last week to protest funding cuts to education.
While legislators consider solutions to closing the budget deficit, on March 15th, tens of thousands of educators will be receiving pink slips in school districts throughout California. Hardworking, dedicated teachers, administrators, custodians, bus drivers, food service workers, librarians, counselors and others working in public schools are being told that the Governor and lawmakers may not keep their promise to our schools and students. To date, more than 21,000 teachers have already received these pink slips, well before the official deadline – which will result in larger class sizes and less adult supervision on school campuses.
Compounding this problem, the Governor has proposed another $2.5 billion cut from schools and students. That is on top of the $17 billion already cut from education funding over the last two years. If the Governor’s proposal is passed, funding for every California student in grades K-12 will be cut by a total of $2,500 per year.
The devastation of these cuts is not only lost jobs right now, but deep, lasting damage to the ability of our children and the state to compete and succeed in the future. Although public education only represents 40 percent of the state budget, our schools have been subjected to 60 percent of the cuts.
Locally, these cuts continue to have a severe impact on California’s students. Here are just a few examples:
LAUSD to lay off 6,300 – LA Daily News (3/9/10)
The massive layoffs are needed to close LAUSD's budget gap estimated at $640 million for the 2010-11 school year.
Last week, the Board of Education approved sending out some 5,200 layoff notices to teachers, administrators, nurses, counselors and librarians.
The board on Tuesday unanimously approved a budget report calling for deep cuts to services, changes in class sizes and the elimination of 6,344 LAUSD workers.
FUSD looks for ways to cut $35 million – Fresno Bee (3/9/10)
Fresno Unified trustees will consider staff recommendations on how to cut $35 million from the 2010-11 budget at tonight's school board meeting.
School officials aren't being specific about what action will be taken, but possible scenarios include pay cuts, staff furlough days and increasing K-3 class sizes -- which would result in fewer teachers.
Redlands cuts high school busing – Contra Costa Times (3/7/10)
Riding the bus to school next year will not be an option for many students after a vote by the board of education to eliminate home- to-school transportation for most high school students.
About 5,000 students ride district buses, said RUSD Superintendent Lori Rhodes. Of those, about 2,500 are high schoolers who will be affected.
For more information about the Education Coalition, please visit www.protectourstudents.org.