Chatman, O’Connell challenge lawmakers to put an end to teacher exodus

CSBA President Paul H. Chatman, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and other speakers today expressed their concern that California will continue to lose more top-notch teachers to other states due to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to cut $4.8 billion from the state’s education budget.

“There is simply no excuse for California’s leaders to continue to shortchange our schools and our students,” Chatman said at a Sacramento press conference organized by the Education Coalition. “We can’t blame other states for coming here and trying to recruit our teachers when our governor has proposed such devastating cuts to education funding and tens of thousands of pink slips have been issued. We need to treat our teachers with the respect they deserve as dedicated professionals.”

States such as Texas, Nevada, Hawaii, Virginia and Kansas are actively recruiting California public school teachers using billboards, radio and newspaper advertising.

“This governor needs to value our teachers,” O’Connell said. “Morale has been hurt … programs are being cut. Clearly, the governor is hurting our teaching profession.”

O’Connell joined in Chatman’s insistence that the governor and Legislature must invest in California’s public schools to guard against the loss of both new and veteran teachers.

“It’s clear that states across the country value the immense talent and experience of California’s teachers,” O’Connell said. “The fact that [other states] want to recruit our talented teachers shouldn’t come as a surprise. But the fact that our state is proposing billions in budget cuts to schools and issuing pink slips to teachers while other states are trying to lure them away with increased salaries, benefits and classroom resources should be of serious concern to all Californians.”

California’s budget crisis, coupled with other states’ enticements to draw teachers away, can only worsen the state’s existing ratio of students to teachers, according to Education Coalition figures. California is expected to need an additional 106,000 teachers over the next decade just to maintain its current substandard ratio, and it would have to immediately hire 100,000 teachers just to equal the national average.

“Teachers are demoralized and distressed about how they will pay their bills and care for their families,” said Dennis Smith, secretary-treasurer of the California Federation of Teachers. “It is scandalous that the governor and Legislature are allowing this to happen. California’s elected officials must do their jobs.”