‘Statement of Conscience’ gives security new meaning
Published: April 1, 2012
“If you see something, say something,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security urges in its public awareness campaign.
The Santa Barbara County Education Office has applied those watchwords to one of the greatest threats facing California today: the steady erosion of resources for public schools. County schools Superintendent Bill Cirone first made the connection in a commentary published in several area news publications late last year. Urging readers to “support what is great about our country, including its educational backbone … and protect what we cherish,” Cirone concluded: “If you see something, say something.”
The Santa Barbara County Board of Education went him one better earlier this year, adopting a “Statement of Conscience” alluding to the Homeland Security exhortation. Cirone credits board member Peter R. MacDougall, who introduced the measure, with taking the action beyond a simple resolution.
“It is a statement that this situation is intolerable,” MacDougall elaborated he added, noting that the cumulative effects of four years of state budget cuts to education—and a much longer trend of underinvestment, compared to the post-World War II years—have affected “a whole generation of students.”
Santa Barbara COE’s Statement of Conscience
We, the members of the Santa Barbara County Board of Education, feel it is our duty to speak out on behalf of the students and school districts within our jurisdiction. Our county superintendent recently wrote an article alluding to the Homeland Security motto, “If you see something, say something.” We see severe danger. We feel it is our responsibility to make the statements that follow.
When Californians passed Proposition 98 in the year 1988 they did so in a climate where funding for public education was being severely decreased. In recognition of the intrinsic, essential value of public schooling, the proposition required that funding for public education be preserved as a set percentage of the state’s expenditures. The intent was that school funding would never fall below the floor of funding that Proposition 98 guaranteed. Instead, Proposition 98 calculations became a funding ceiling above which support would never rise.
There is every indication Proposition 98 would pass again were it placed on the ballot today, given the continued overwhelming support for public schooling. Californians are clear-sighted in their understanding of the urgency to educate children, for both the short-term needs and the long-range health and sustenance of our communities.
Even before our nation was formed, the colonies and settlements acted on the premise that it was the responsibility of every adult in a community to contribute to resources to educate every child. Even small villages with few services or amenities nonetheless had schoolhouses. The concept of free and universal public education is the core of what makes our country exceptional, and continues to be the envy of the world.
In public schools, children of every background, ethnicity, religious tradition, physical or mental ability, or socioeconomic status sit side by side and succeed based on individual effort. It is a true meritocracy. In classrooms throughout our state and nation, children learn the skills essential to their contributions to the democratic society they will enter as adults. Young people today will fly the planes, repair the cars, staff the emergency rooms, and make the policies that affect the generation that follows. Their preparation and education are what will make the difference between our success or failure as a society. This is simple fact.
In most states, public education is a local responsibility, covered by local property taxes. California’s Proposition 13 severely curtailed the ability of local governments to continue to support local schools, and; the responsibility for funding public schooling was therefore absorbed by the state, adding to all its other vital responsibilities.
We are well aware that our state faces a true fiscal crisis that was years in the making and is staggering in its magnitude. There are no easy solutions. Programs will need to be cut. Revenues will need to be added. As elected officials in our own sphere, we are mindful that representatives at every level need to make extremely difficult choices at every turn, and that the choices available in terms of the state budget will be wrenching. Every program currently receiving state funds has fervent supporters who can argue persuasively that those programs are vital and deserve continued support. We respectfully submit that not all institutions are equal. Public education is of a different magnitude and impact.
We submit that it is unacceptable and self-defeating for the state to abdicate its responsibility to fund public schools at an adequate level. All that is important to our state’s health and vitality depends upon the satisfactory educational preparation of every child who lives or works here. Studies are unambiguous on how strongly a lack of education correlates with crime, poverty, the need for social services, incarcerations, law enforcement and a whole host of costly interventions. That is the practical need. There is also the moral need for societies to take care of their children.
For decades California had a truly exceptional historical record of providing outstanding educational services from kindergarten through graduate and professional education. We believe it is a moral imperative that those individuals who reaped the rewards from the state’s earlier investment in education do all they can to ensure that comparable educational opportunities are available to young people today. The investment gap and consequent denial of educational opportunities are unconscionable.
We do not presume to tell our legislators how they will work the state’s budget to secure the funding necessary to ensure our children receive the education they need and deserve; the logistics of how to go about that task is theirs to decide.
We are stating emphatically, however, that there is urgent need to do so. The current situation is unsustainable. Education is not a frill; pared down levels of educational services are not an option. The very fabric of our society is at stake. We cannot lose a generation of young people simply because the adults refused to act.