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Speaking Out Against Schwarzenegger's Budget Cuts to Education
By Stephen Cassidy
"The Governor can’t manufacture money" is what one person said after I described how his cutbacks will harm our schools. I replied, "Yes, but he can manufacture leadership."
I serve on a school board in San Leandro, California. All Californians need to speak out against Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts and pressure him and the Legislature to develop solutions to the revenue shortfall that do not harm our children.
My oldest daughter will start Kindergarten in public school in San Leandro next August. I know she will receive excellent instruction from dedicated and caring teachers. Her education, however, will not be shaped solely by my wife and me, her teachers, principal, other involved parents and school board.
The federal government has intruded in education through the No Child Left Behind Act. NCLB establishes wholly unrealistic standards of performance for our public schools. When schools do not meet these standards, they are labeled failures, triggering a set of escalating sanctions ending in the conversion of our public schools into charter schools.
Congress is debating whether to reauthorize NCLB. If Congress applied the same performance measurements to itself, Congress would receive an "F." The federal government should offer a helping hand to schools in need, not punitive sanctions.
Decisions made in Sacramento in the coming months will also greatly impact our schools. California has a centralized system for funding public education. The Governor and Legislature, not local school boards, determine the amount of property taxes and state aid each school district receives. This is why even when property tax receipts increase, our schools do not necessarily benefit.
Sacramento deserves an "F" in the category of school finance. According to Education Week, California ranks 47th in the nation in spending per student when accounting for regional cost differences, spending $1,900 less per student than the national average. West Virginia, Louisiana and Mississippi all outrank California.
What do these statistics mean? The 6.3 million children in California public schools attend some of the most crowded classrooms and have the fewest counselors and librarians in the nation.
Last August, Governor Schwarzenegger signed a budget that he called responsible, noting it limited "spending growth to less than 1 percent." Since then there has been a meltdown in the housing market. State revenues have dropped precipitously. Nevertheless, Governor Schwarzenegger claims state expenditures are excessive. He proposes cutting billions from K-12 education to balance the budget.
"The Governor can’t manufacture money" is what one person said after I described how his cutbacks will harm our schools. I replied, "Yes, but he can manufacture leadership." Upon taking office, Governor Schwarzenegger reduced the vehicle license fee. That created an annual $4 billion hole in the budget, about the same amount he now seeks to slash from education.
Governor Schwarzenegger once promised voters he would "protect California’s commitment to education funding." Our public schools are the only state-funded agency that depends upon car washes, bake sales and magazine subscription drives to function. Yet, the Governor rules out any tax increases to address the revenue shortfall. His call for 2008 to be the Year of Education has become a cruel joke.
Leadership is ultimately by example. The Schwarzenegger household will be unaffected by the budget cuts. His children attend a private school that charges over $25,000 a year in tuition. In San Leandro, spending per student in 2006 was $6,916.
Our society will not flourish if only the children of the rich attend schools that offer quality teaching in small classrooms, music and arts education, foreign languages, sports, access to technology and well-stocked libraries. California’s future depends on our public schools receiving the resources necessary to succeed.
Please note, I am speaking for myself, not the San Leandro School Board
Stephen Cassidy is Vice-President of the San Leandro Unified School District Board. He is a 1986 graduate of the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University and received his law degree in 1989 from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. He practices law in San Francisco. His wife Amy (Kehret) Cassidy is a former teacher in the San Leandro Unified School District and attended San Leandro’s public schools.
Comments
A CSUEB instructor gets fired for attempting too modify the state loyalty oath, as should be her right according to freedom of religion protections outlined in the US Consitution. The governor proposes to 'suspend' prop 98 on school spending, thereby out-and-out breaking the State Constitution.
In addition, he has proposed 'borrowing' monies deducted each month from my paycheck for my State Teachers Retirement, which I consider my funds, especially in the face of the Social Security offset.
If the US pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Feds would have plenty of money to fully fund NCLB, thus providing relief to the states.
Equity means giving thought to decisions, not across the board cuts. This is the lazy man's approach.
Posted by: djsarver at March 6, 2008 08:47 AM
The budget cuts impact teachers and children, the key to our future!!
I don't hear anything about administrators making 100,000+.. This is a very sad situation!
As it is our children get little exposure to the arts, so many of those programs were already cut! Our children and teachers should be our first priority not our last.
How about restructuring the auditing process of the budget and where the money goes after it's disbursed.
How much time does he have left in office???
Posted by: sadaboutit at March 12, 2008 09:00 AM
The budget cuts impact teachers and children, the key to our future!!
I don't hear anything about administrators making 100,000+.. This is a very sad situation!
As it is our children get little exposure to the arts, so many of those programs were already cut! Our children and teachers should be our first priority not our last.
How about restructuring the auditing process of the budget and where the money goes after it's disbursed.
How much time does he have left in office???
Posted by: sadaboutit at March 12, 2008 09:01 AM
Yesterday I went to go buy a bus pass for two of my children. To my surprise I was denied. Because they are attending a "school of choice", they will not be allowed to ride the bus. I am outraged. I am a full time working parent. I have a babysitter that does not drive but lives right across the street from the bus stop since I am unable to pick them up. After school, my kids attend Boys and Girls Club and homework club. It is a great program. Unfortunetly now my kids will not be able to attend and benefit from the program. I am now under stress as to who will be taking care of my kids after school. Whats even more upsetting is that I did not receive a letter from the school district explaining the budget cuts until this week. A week before school starts!
Kids are our future and should not be impacted by the mistakes brought by irresponsible spending!!!
Posted by: BSoto at August 27, 2008 03:28 PM
i went to my child school officce to buy a bus.. i was out raged of how much is cost i fond that irresponsibel!!!!! it is not the children fought for poeple who are IRRESPONSIBLE SPENDING!!!! THE CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE we need them
Posted by: star at February 10, 2009 09:48 PM
How do we as citizens fiw the problem? None of the state legislature will get an I.O.U. for there pay check, but I am on unemployment and I have to worry about paying my bills with an I.O.U.
I believe we should fire them all and hire(elect people who want and can do the job.
Posted by: Lee at June 30, 2009 12:13 PM
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