School Governance Leaders to Share Devastating Consequences of Funding Cuts with State Legislators

West Sacramento , Calif. – School governance leaders from across California will meet with state lawmakers on Monday to address the disastrous impacts that budget cuts are having on schools, as part of the California School Boards Association’s 2009 Legislative Action Conference in Sacramento, May 17 and 18.

Under either of the Governor’s recently proposed May revisions, schools are facing cuts at a level never before seen in the state’s history. Conference participants will share with legislators real-life stories about the impacts that education cuts have on their schools and students.

“Ongoing education cuts have required school governance leaders to make tough decisions, with devastating consequences,” CSBA President Paula S. Campbell said. “Now more than ever, we need the governor and legislature to understand that additional cuts of this magnitude are unacceptable and unconscionable.”

Although 40 percent of the state budget goes toward school funding, education took 60 percent of the total cuts in the budget passed in February. As a result, more than 30,000 teachers and administrators have received pink slips and more than 10,000 custodians, bus drivers and other school employees have been laid off.

“California has the highest academic standards in the nation and ranks nearly dead last in per pupil funding,” CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin said. “It’s mind boggling to imagine what these additional cuts would do to our children’s future. Hopefully, this will serve as a wake-up call to our state leaders that it is time to do something about the state’s irrational funding system for public education.”

For more information about the 2009 CSBA Legislative Action Conference, please contact Brittany McKannay at (916) 669-3244 or bmckannay@csba.org.