BURLINGAME - With California’s budget crisis worsening, and the governor’s state budget proposing to cut education by nearly $5 billion, the California Teachers Association yesterday launched a statewide radio ad reminding the governor and the legislature that cuts will hurt our students and schools and that they should protect public education.
“Proposed cuts of nearly $5 billion to education have already resulted in 18,000 lay-off notices being sent to educators and education support professionals, and will mean $800 less per student in our state,” says CTA president David A Sanchez. “Education Week ranks California 46th out of 50 states in per-pupil funding. These cuts will move us closer to last place.”
The cuts would be the same as eliminating all music, art and career technical education programs statewide with room left to cut even more, Sanchez says. At state colleges and universities, these cuts mean student fee increases, faculty layoffs, fewer course offerings, larger class sizes and longer graduation times.
The new radio ad features a TV reporter and anchorperson discussing specifics of the cuts, with the reporter saying, “California needs to keep investing in our kids’ education because it’s the most important thing we can do for our future.”
Through the ad, CTA urges the public to call Gov. Schwarzenegger and legislators and urge them to protect education funding.
In addition to its radio ads, CTA officers have been on a seven-week “Cuts Hurt” bus tour of the state in an effort to bring the message to the media and the public about the damages that will occur to schools and students should the current budget be adopted. You can follow the tour at www.cta.org.