SACRAMENTO - Members of the Education Coalition, which includes parents, teachers, school board members, administrators and classified employees from across the state, today warned against any drastic cuts to California public schools. During news conferences in Sacramento and San Francisco, the groups warned that any cuts to public education - particularly any mid-year reductions - would directly impact the more than six million children in our public schools and derail current efforts to improve student achievement.
"California students and schools have been making significant progress. Student achievement has increased and test scores continue to rise," said Wayne Johnson, president of the California Teachers Association. "Cutting education funding now will destroy that momentum and roll back efforts to improve student performance. We can't afford to force our public schools into an education recession."
"Public education remains the top priority for California parents and voters. The message from last month's elections was very clear as voters overwhelmingly agreed that they want to invest more in our public schools - not less," said Cecelia Mansfield, Director of Legislation for the California State PTA.
The governor has called a special session of the state Legislature to deal with the state's $21 billion budget deficit, including a more than $5 billion shortfall in the current year. On Friday, the governor is expected to announce a proposal to cut more than $1.9 billion from public education.
"We want to be perfectly clear. There is no, so-called over-appropriation of public education funding," said Kevin Gordon, executive director of the California Association of School Business Officials. "In fact, more than $3.1 billion was cut from our public schools within the past two budget years."
"Any mid-year cuts will devastate our schools," said Mary Bergan, president of the California Federation of Teachers. "In order to save the amount of money being discussed, the state would have to shut down our schools for two full weeks, reduce per-pupil spending by $300 or lay off more than 35,000 teachers."
"The Education Coalition recognizes the severity of the budget crisis, but any efforts to deal with this year's budget shortfall must not be taken in isolation," said Dan Walden, president of the California School Boards Association. "The state must develop a multi-year plan that will address the immediate and future needs of our students and schools."
"All of the groups here today are prepared to work with the governor, legislators and others to create a comprehensive proposal that protects the financial integrity of the state and maintains the momentum for improved student achievement," concluded Clyde Rivers, state president of the California School Employees Association.
The Education Coalition
Working together to support and improve California's public schools
Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) representing nearly 15,500 school administrators
- California Association Of School Business Officials (CASBO)representing more than 4,000 school finance and administrative managers
- California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA)representing all 58 county superintendents throughout California
- California Federation of Teachers (CFT-AFL-CIO)representing nearly 90,000 education employees
- California School Boards Association (CSBA)representing nearly 1,000 K-12 school districts and county offices of education throughout California
- California School Employees Association (CSEA)representing more than 230,000 classified school employees
- California State PTA representing more than one million parents, teachers, and students in California
- California Teachers Association (CTA)representing over 335,000 educators
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU)representing more than 50,000 school employees in California