Thousands of CTA members are mobilizing their communities to pressure legislators into finding a solution that protects students and classroom spending from drastic budget cuts under consideration by the state Legislature.
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CTA officers Wayne Johnson and David A. Sanchez take questions from reporters at a Sacramento news conference held during the quickly arranged Lobby Day. |
They're explaining that California's public schools will suffer if Gov. Gray Davis is allowed to carry out his plan to cut $6.7 billion from K-14 education spending over the next 18 months.
The proposal would cut $2.7 billion in the current school year. That includes $1.87 billion in midyear reductions announced in December and an additional $804 million announced in January. The midyear cuts would hit schools particularly hard as many categorical programs face immediate across-the-board reductions of more than 10 percent.
In addition, his proposed 2003-04 state budget would continue all of the midyear cuts he is demanding now and include no cost-of-living adjustment.
"This budget proposal will roll back the progress that has been made in providing our students and schools the resources they need to succeed," says CTA President Wayne Johnson. "If education is the governor's first, second and third priorities, why are we balancing the state budget on the backs of our students?"
"Cuts of this magnitude - particularly in the middle of the school year - will send California back to the cellar in per-pupil spending," adds Johnson. "All of the gains that had been made to bring California up to just below the national average will be lost. A $2.7 billion reduction is the same as cutting more than $450 per student or laying off 50,000 teachers."
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CTA Board members were in the audience to handle questions about how budget cuts would impact their school districts. |
The governor's one-two punch to education comes as the state tries to deal with the vast budget deficit. Davis estimates the budget shortfall at $35 billion, but the state's legislative analyst says it's closer to $26 billion.
Teachers are demanding that any cuts be targeted as far away from the classroom as possible.
In late January, CTA succeeded in eliminating across-the-board cuts from two Assembly and Senate budget committee plans, both of which face further legislative action. The Assembly plan cuts $2.26 billion from education funding, but delays about half of that reduction until next year, allowing local chapters and school districts more time to minimize the impact of the funding cuts. CTA also defeated an Assembly proposal that would have furloughed teachers for one day. CTA is still fighting one provision that cuts $25 per student from the base revenue limit (about $160 million).
The Senate budget plan sought $2.14 billion in education cuts with no across-the-board reductions. However, the Senate budget struck a blow to the state's Class Size Reduction Program by recommending a district-wide average of 20 students that would lead to larger classes in the K-3 grades covered by the program. CTA lobbyists are working to change this provision when the plan is considered by the Assembly. CTA is also exploring ways to provide new tax revenue for public schools.
On the ground and on the airwaves, CTA is fighting back. CTA President Johnson is warning of an "education recession" in a radio ad airing statewide in February. It says the state budget crisis is not an excuse for dismantling the state's six-year-old class size reduction program in grades K-3.
"Gray Davis is turning back the clock on school reform," says Johnson in the latest in a series of tough ads. "California needs to solve its budget problem, but not by depriving our kids of a quality education. Tell Governor Davis and your legislators that we need a solution that puts kids first, preserves smaller classes and keeps public schools improving."
Davis wants to slash $131 million from K-3 class size reduction alone this year, and the same amount in 2003-04.
In ads airing in Spanish around the state, CTA Secretary-Treasurer David A. Sanchez also takes on the governor. "He's already slashed classroom budgets by billions of dollars," Sanchez warns. "That means overcrowded classrooms, layoffs of teachers and others who work directly with students."
CTA members are using the CTA website alert system to send e-mails to the governor and lawmakers. And more than 300 chapter leaders from across the state converged on Sacramento Jan. 15 for a day of face-to-face lobbying with legislators, warning them that the midyear cuts will create chaos in classrooms.
No school or college is safe, Johnson warns. He says the governor's call to more than double community college fees from $11 per unit to $24 per unit will price thousands of students out of a college education.
At a news conference held in Sacramento on the day teacher leaders were lobbying at the Capitol, Johnson announced two ideas for saving the state some money.
"Rather than increasing class sizes and laying off teachers - two proposed cuts that directly impact students - let's look at eliminating unnecessary, administrative bureaucracy, starting with the Office of the Secretary of Education.
"In addition, we should streamline our testing system. There are too many tests and some of them, like the High School Exit Exam, are seriously flawed and should be eliminated."
In a Jan. 19 speech to teachers at the CTA Rural Issues Conference, Johnson warned that some administrators are exploiting the uncertainty of the budget crisis.
"The administrators are using this budget crisis to try to weaken teacher collective bargaining," he said. "They see this as an opportunity to strengthen their hand at the bargaining table."
Reports that many school districts are demanding cuts before they know the outcome of deliberations in Sacramento bear out Johnson's concerns. The Santa Ana Unified School District has proposed slashing $17 million and San Diego Unified Superintendent Alan Bersin has proposed eliminating entire programs. In the Stockton Unified School District, administrators outraged teachers by demanding take-backs at the bargaining table and threatening massive layoffs despite the district's $30 million in unrestricted reserves. CTA members are reminding lawmakers that voters have approved more than one initiative to ensure public education gets a portion of all state revenues. The governor's budget plan undermines this concept and makes sure none of his proposed new taxes are spent on students or on improving schools.
CTA is advocating to protect funding for four specific areas: base revenue limit monies; the state's effective class size reduction program; resources to help the state's schools of greatest need; and special education programs.
Working with parents is one way teachers are building coalitions to protect school resources. They are reminding parents and school supporters that hurting schools will also hurt communities.
"All politics is local, and that's where we can make a major difference," says Johnson. "Huge cuts in classroom spending today spell disaster for our state tomorrow. Our students are depending on us."
Mike Myslinsk
