The Education Coalition is calling on the governor and lawmakers to fully fund education and allocate the money owed to schools under state law.
"California schools and students need, and voters expect, the governor to keep his promise to repay the money borrowed from Proposition 98," says CTA President Barbara E. Kerr. "That money is desperately needed to restore class size reduction programs, to buy up-to-date textbooks, and to attract and retain high-quality teachers and other educators."
According to the 2006 Education Week report, "Quality Counts," California ranks 43rd in the nation in per-pupil spending. California's schools also continue to have some of the largest class sizes and the greatest shortages of librarians, counselors and other critical support staff.
"Public schools need and deserve adequate funding," says Association of California School Administrators President Henry Bietz. "Together we must establish an investment strategy that not only upholds the promise to education, but also ensures the resources we provide for our students meet the high expectations we have for them in our standards-based educational system."
"The governor must invest in public education and keep his promise to California's 6 million students," says California State PTA President Brenda Davis.
In addition to calling on the governor to keep his promise, the coalition has announced its strong opposition to the governor's proposal to fund Prop. 49 with Prop. 98 funds without increasing the guarantee as required by law. "This flies in the face of the commitment the governor made to voters and the education community in the 2002 election," says California Federation of Teachers President Mary Bergan.
"As school business officials, we have had to make cuts to core classroom programs over the past few years in response to the state budget situation," says California Association of School Business Officials President Pearl Iizuka. "We urge the governor to help us restore the important programs first - before going forward with the new Prop. 49 program."
"Every year that we delay adequately funding our schools is a year we will never be able to retrieve," says California School Employees Association President Rob Feckner. "We need a commitment from the governor to fulfill the promise for this generation of students, and not on the backs of future generations."
"Restoring the funding that has been cut from our schools and adequately funding all of our classrooms can only be achieved through commitment and leadership," says California School Boards Association President Luan B. Rivera. "We call upon the governor to demonstrate such leadership, keep the promise he made to schools, and lead our state in the development of an education funding plan that invests in California's greatest resource: our students."
