Mike Myslinski, CTA, 408-921-5769; mmyslinski@cta.org
SAN BRUNO - The governor’s proposed budget and his plan to prevent deeper school cuts by extending some temporary taxes with a public vote are what California needs to protect schools as they reel from the 18,886 educator pink slips reported across the state so far, leaders of the Education Coalition said today at a news conference with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.
Today is the annual deadline for school districts to issue preliminary pink slips for educators, but not all have been reported yet. Meeting at Portola Elementary School here, Torlakson said, “It’s time for the Legislature to put the governor’s tax extension on the ballot. People deserve the right to make this decision – it’s what democracy is all about. My message to California’s teachers is simple: Hang in there. Have heart and have hope. We’re going to get through this crisis, and turn this state around.”
CTA President David A. Sanchez said lawmakers must protect schools. “On behalf of the 325,000 members of the California Teachers Association, I join with the entire Education Coalition today in delivering this message,” Sanchez said. “Lawmakers must approve the governor’s tax extension plan to give our students a chance at a better education and California a chance at a better future. Investing in our schools, higher education and the economy are the most important things we can do to protect our communities and our state.”
“As a long-time school board member I have faced many challenging decisions, but I have never been faced with education cuts of such great proportion,” said California School Boards Association President-elect Jill Wynns, a school board member in San Francisco Unified. “I am truly concerned that the magnitude of these ongoing cuts seriously hinders our ability to provide students the education needed to ensure a strong economy and a well-educated workforce.”
In addition to teacher pink slips, about 6,000 education support professionals represented by the California School Employees Association could also lose their vital jobs, said Alameda Unified office manager Cindy Zecher, a member of the CSEA board of directors. “Parents are understandably upset about the conditions in many of our schools,” Zecher said. “Maintenance, security, custodial and other critical services have already been cut down to the bare bones. Putting the tax extensions on the ballot gives parents the opportunity to prevent further cuts to these essential services that keep California's kids safe and healthy while they're at school.”
“The children of California are impacted by the current budget crisis in many ways,” said Carol Kocivar, president-elect of the California state PTA. “It is time for the adults to step up. Nearly one million PTA members from throughout California are expecting decisive action by our elected representatives. Let the voters decide!”
San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Anne E. Campbell has seen first-hand the problems with overcrowding due to state cuts. “As a guest principal at Spruce Elementary School in the South San Francisco Unified School District last week during ‘Principal for a Day’, I observed a school of 621 students operating with a principal and two secretaries but no other administrative support for teachers, who were dealing with class sizes as high as 34 students,” Campbell said. “This is stark proof that the 23 school districts in San Mateo County have sustained severe budget cuts over the past few years and are now down to the bare bones. If the state's K-12 education budget sustains another $5 billion in reductions, it would severely hamper our ability to serve students, and if that is compounded by deferrals of revenues to future years, our schools will face critical cash flow problems that could hamstring their operations.”
Due to state cuts, the San Bruno Park School District has pink-slipped 12 teachers, or nearly 10 percent of the district’s educator workforce, said Jed Burnham, president of the San Bruno Education Association. “We are all in this fight together,” Burnham said. “Student learning will suffer if the governor’s budget plan is not adopted, and if his urgent call to extend temporary taxes falls on deaf ears.”
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