Spare schools from cuts, Education Coalition says 

Amid rising projections of California’s state budget deficit, CSBA President Paula S. Campbell joined other leaders of the Education Coalition at a press conference in Sacramento last month to decry the impact that $17 billion in cuts over the past two years has already had on California’s public schools.

Speakers called on state lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to honor the continued public support for school funding consistently demonstrated in surveys and local bond and parcel tax elections.

“Time and again, voters have said that education should be protected from cuts, and that we should invest in our students and our state’s future,” Campbell said. “Our students simply cannot sustain further cuts. It’s time for our leaders to focus on real priorities—and for voters to hold those accountable who don’t.”

Campbell and other speakers recapped some of the devastating impacts that funding cuts have wreaked on public education. California Teachers Association President David D. Sanchez, for example, reported that 16,000 teachers from 2008–09 did not return to the classroom for the 2009–10 school year. California State PTA President Jo Loss said California now ranks last among the 50 states in its ratio of staff to students.

“We strive to create a public school system where students can thrive in small class sizes with up-to-date textbooks and state-of-the-art technology, in schools with updated facilities,” said Charles Weis, president of the Association of California School Administrators. “But with these historic cuts to public education, our state’s leaders are denying students the basic resources they need to succeed.”

The Education Coalition also released a new report, “Chronicling the Cuts,” that documents specific impacts education funding reductions have had at the local level. Complementing the extensive analyses that CSBA and many other friends of education have produced, “Chronicling the Cuts” captures the stories of students, teachers and superintendents from throughout the state.

Some examples:

• “With the increased class sizes, it takes longer to go through a math lecture since the teacher has to answer more questions. Instead of being able to go over homework quickly and teach the lesson slowly, we spend half of class answering questions, leaving only 20 minutes for the new lesson,” one student reported.
• “I am one of the last Woodshop teachers, and I'm glad to have a job which I enjoy,” wrote a Los Angeles-area teacher before continuing: “My budget for six classes that average 36 kids per class is $100 for the entire year. I personally spend between $500 and $1,000 per month to keep my little program running, about $10,000 per year. I collect shop fees but only about half the kids are able to pay.”
• “Our parents are very helpful but it is not enough,” lamented a Central Coast teacher who also reported “digging deeper” into her own funds to meet student needs. “Our school bus system has been almost completely eliminated. We have lost most of our Technology staff. There are no new funds for updating computers or buying new ones.”
• “Loss of Categorical Program Director, reduction in counseling services, freeze on textbook purchases, larger class size at secondary level,” a San Francisco-area district administrator noted succinctly before adding, “We will need to make an additional $2.5 million in cuts for 2010-2011.”

Easy link:

• Find “Chronicling the Cuts” on the Education Coalition’s Web site.