Teachers think a promise should count for something

By Sherry Posnick-Goodwin

Teachers in the Bassett Unified School District have a message for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: "Keep the promise you made to repay the $2 billion you borrowed from public schools. And keep your promise to fully fund Prop. 98."

"I voted for him," says Linda Rodriguez, a first-grade teacher at Don Julian Elementary School. "I thought he was going to have some middle ground, but apparently not. We need more money for our schools. We need the basic floor of funding that Prop. 98 guaranteed. He promised us that he would support that. Instead, he's playing with formulas and trying to find a way out of funding our schools."

Last year, public schools sacrificed $2 billion with the promise that the money would be repaid and schools would receive their fair share of any additional state revenue. State revenues are up, but the governor is not keeping his promise to repay the money. He is also breaking his promise to protect Prop. 98, which provides a guaranteed minimum level of funding for schools. His so-called Live Within Our Means initiative would allow multiple midyear rounds of across-the-board cuts in school funding. It would also eliminate the Prop. 98 maintenance factor, which is the IOU to public schools for funding shortfalls in bad economic times. Under the governor's plan, the state would eventually repay its current $3.9 billion debt to schools, but the amount would not be added to the minimum funding base that carries forward to future years. The minimum funding level would stay at the 2004-05 amount. The loss is estimated at $25,000 per classroom — and schools have already suffered more than $9.8 billion in cuts over the past four years.

Schools in the high-poverty Bassett district, located in Los Angeles County, have already been cut to the bone, say teachers. The administration has done its best to keep cuts as far away from the classroom as possible, which means that aides, groundskeepers, custodians and counselors have been let go. This year, every administrator in the district received a layoff notice — and 13 probationary teachers were not renewed.

Campuses have been closed. The AVID college-preparation program has been eliminated, as has a "newcomers" program that helped new immigrants transition into regular classrooms. Professional development for teachers has also gone by the wayside.

Security officers have been reduced at school sites even though they are located in gang-infested neighborhoods. There is almost no funding for technology. Supplies are scarce and teachers often pay for them out of pocket or ask parents to chip in even though they can't always afford it. Teachers and students empty the trash, and some teachers vacuum their own classrooms. Buses are run-down. Electives in art, homemaking, industrial arts and chorus have been eliminated at the middle school level. There's no money for field trips or assemblies unless the PTA has a candy sale.

Rodriguez says she feels personally betrayed by Schwarzenegger. "Teachers are the heart and soul of California, but he's calling us 'special interests,'" says the Bassett Teachers Association member. "Who does he think lives here? Who does he think Californians are? I'm not just someone who belongs to a union. I'm also someone who cares about the children and cares about the future of California. These children are my 'special interest.'"

The impact of previous budget cuts has already taken a huge toll on employees at Don Julian Elementary. Without the newcomers program, fourth-grade teacher Irma Leticia Millan now has 31 English language learners in her classroom during language arts. The students, of varying ages and abilities, are at least two years behind grade level.

"I can't meet all their needs at the same time," says Millan, who makes a valiant effort with various small learning groups. "It's hard to give them the attention they need, and it's affecting the quality of their work. For a lot of the time, they are pretty much on their own."

Fourth-grade teacher Penny Sakuma-Wolf says she is buying a lot more supplies for students now that the district has little money. "For Christmas, I asked students to bring gifts for the class of things we really need, like pencils, erasers, paper and Kleenex."

First-grade teacher Marion Woodward recently sent a note home to parents asking if they would mind if their children picked up trash for 10 minutes each day to make up for the lack of custodial service. "If you do not want your child to have learning time reduced, please let me know," she wrote.

At Torch Middle School, one of two counselors has been eliminated. Remaining counselor Lisa James finds it difficult to meet the needs of 900 students by herself, but is doing her very best. Her duties include conflict mediation, discipline problems, academic counseling and listening to family problems. "Sometimes tempers get heated, and all reason goes out the door because they are adolescents," says James, adding that she fears many students are now falling between the cracks.

"There are a lot of fights and a lot of problems at school," says eighth-grader Jessica Ruiz. "She gives me good advice about what I can do to avoid fights."

Alfredo Lechuga, also in eighth grade, often spends his lunchtime with James in the counseling office. "She gives me motivation," he says. "I talk to her about my problems."

Further budget cuts would be devastating for Bassett. The possibilities under consideration include ending class size reduction in grades K-3; raising the cap for class size in grades 4-12 from 34 students to 37; laying off the one remaining counselor at Torch Middle School; and cutting more security personnel, classified staff and teachers.

Andrea Bohren, who teaches sixth-grade physical education at four elementary schools, fears that her position will also be eliminated. "Last year they tried to cut sixth-grade PE, and now it's being threatened again," says Bohren, who prepares students for the fitness test they will need to pass in seventh grade. "It bothers me."

Bohren and other teachers are extremely upset that the governor is not keeping his promise to Bassett Unified and the rest of the state.

"Breaking his word — well, that's just wrong," says Woodward, who voted for him. "Proposition 98 was approved by the people in an election — and now he says he wants to take it to the people. By not keeping his word, he is setting a very bad example for the children in this state."