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Torlakson Presses Governor To Help Beleaguered Schools
By Tom Torlakson
California State Senate
As school districts struggle with the recent budget cuts, and a new deficit that threatens our children’s future and our economy looms on the horizon, today I urged Governor Schwarzenegger to help mitigate the impacts by working quickly to direct American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to our schools as quickly as they come in.
When news arrived that the federal stimulus package had passed, the education community and our entire state breathed a heavy sigh of relief. But now that we know we face an additional deficit of at least $8 billion, we are holding our breath once again. We can’t waste a single day to get these education federal stimulus dollars where they belong—to schools.
California will receive approximately $6 billion in K-16 education funding through the ARRA. Delivery of these dollars is expected from the federal government in days.
I wrote in a letter to the Governor that as May quickly approaches, thousands of teachers and staff are in jeopardy of losing their jobs, thus deepening the economic crisis in their own communities.
The loss of these teachers will mean that classroom teacher and support staff ratios will soar, and kids will pay the consequences.
Additionally, many district superintendents have indicated that if the stimulus dollars aren’t forwarded to them soon, they will run out of cash.
I urge the Governor, as California’s lead on these funds, to ensure that the ARRA dollars flow directly to our schools as quickly as possible and encourage our schools to use these flexible funds to backfill their local best practices, mitigate increasing staffing ratios, and protect program quality across the board.
Last month, as part of the budget plan to close the $42 billion deficit, $8.4 billion was cut from the state’s education spending. Following the passage of the budget, the deficit is now projected to be at least $8 billion greater than originally estimated. To help fill that gap, the California's independent Legislative Analyst's Office recommended that the education budget be cut by an additional $3.6 billion, with the intent that federal stimulus money would replace those depleted funds.
Funding education is not only immediate economic stimulus, but an investment in our future. We must act quickly so these funds are best utilized.
Senator Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) represents the Seventh Senatorial District, including most of Contra Costa County. He is the chair of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Schools and Community. Senator Torlakson is also a member of the Senate Education and Transportation and Housing Committees. A teacher and coach, Senator Torlakson is the Chair and Founder of the California Task Force on Youth and Workplace Wellness, a group seeking to raise the profile of health and fitness in the public schools and in the workplace. He is currently on the faculty at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, California.
Comments
Thank goodness there is someone in our legislature that gets it! It is obvious that our Governor and our legislators do not care about the impact on children, or the investment education is for our State's future.
What I was sure they would think about is that 27,000 people (teachers) out of work has a huge impact on locale and regional economies...ultimately the whole state!
Hopefully, now that Senator Tom Torlakson has brought this to the Governors attention maybe, just maybe he will act! Let's hope otherwise the June unemployment record will jump!
Posted by: Pepper Hanrahan at March 27, 2009 10:47 PM
Thank goodness there is someone in our legislature that gets it! It is obvious that our Governor and our legislators do not care about the impact on children, or the investment education is for our State's future.
What I was sure they would think about is that 27,000 people (teachers) out of work has a huge impact on locale and regional economies...ultimately the whole state!
Hopefully, now that Senator Tom Torlakson has brought this to the Governors attention maybe, just maybe he will act! Let's hope otherwise the June unemployment record will jump!
Posted by: Pepper Hanrahan at March 27, 2009 10:48 PM
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