Why join May 14th Statewide Rallies?

by Steve Neat

Teachers and parents from Eureka to San Diego will come together at hundreds of locations on May 14.  They will protest the budget cuts that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing, cuts that would mean larger class sizes, less enrichment for students, and laid-off teachers across the state.

The governor’s proposed $4.8 billion cut to public education would affect students across the
state. The cut would reduce funding by $800 per student for the year 2008-09. California already spends $1900 less per student per year than the national average. In trying to anticipate the effects of the proposed cuts, school districts have already handed out 18,000 pink slips to teachers and educational support staff. How can schools succeed in such an atmosphere? What kind of future are we trying to help the children of California build?

Of course the cuts would also hurt at the local level. A $4.8 billion school funding cut in Sacramento means a cut of $23 million in OUSD. Thankfully,Oakland Public Schools did not lay off teachers in the hundreds or thousands like many other school districts. If the proposed cuts go ahead, however, the money will have to come from somewhere. Will sports programs be cut? Will vital support staff like counselors, speech therapists, and resource teachers be cut? Will class sizes be increased? California is so wealthy that it would be one of the ten richest countries in the world if it was an independent nation. Yet a small group of
Assemblymembers and State Senators have refused to consider increasing revenue rather than cutting public schools. Measures like closing a tax loophole taken advantage of by yacht owners and levying a tax on oil coming out the ground in California have recently failed in the legislature.  Unfortunately, as budgetary bills they need a two-thirds vote to pass. Even if these measures did get out of the legislature, would Schwarzenegger sign them into law?

The people of California need to send a strong message to our elected leaders on May 14. We need to make it clear that we are against tax breaks for the super-wealthy. We need to make it clear that we are against gas companies charging $4 a gallon and taking California’s oil for nothing. We need to make it clear that public education and the future of our children is our top priority, and that it needs to be their top priority too.