Contact: Sandra Jackson, 916-801-4776
BURLINGAME- The following statement can be attributed to Dean E. Vogel, President of the California Teachers Association:
“While the Department of Finance will calculate the final numbers, it’s becoming increasingly evident that the state will not meet the revenue projections put forth in this year’s budget, and our students, schools and essential services will suffer more devastating cuts. This is unfortunate, since California’s schools and colleges have endured more than $20 billion in cuts in recent years, and California ranks 46th in the country in K-12 per-student spending. During the same time, we’ve also seen drastic increases in college tuitions.
“Our students’ education should not be shortchanged because of an economic downturn, especially when California has the eighth-largest economy in the world. There’s plenty of money in California to provide a quality education, but because of an unfair tax structure and corporate tax breaks, our state doesn’t take in the revenue it needs to take care of its citizens. It’s time to put a fair and equitable tax system in place so that our students and the most vulnerable Californians don’t have to continue to do without.”
The 325,000-member CTA is affiliated with the 3.2 million-member National Education Association.