I have never been so passionate about a subject as I am the CA state budget that is in shambles right now. We just pink slipped 7 teachers from our school alone and are getting ready to take away the 20 to 1 class size ration for 1st - 3rd grade PLUS add 1 additional student to the already oversized 4th-12th grade classes.
We are also cutting janitors, aides, groundskeepers and so many other much needed positions. Music, arts, and other programs are being removed. For a state that is wealthiest in the nation to become 50th in eduction (as of this coming July should the budget pass) is not only unacceptable, it is embarrassing!!! From a PTA perspective and especially as a parent I am doing everything I can to pass along information, to be heard and to let the state know that the budget is completely unacceptable.
You may or not be interested but if you are, read on:
A delegation meets privately with lawmakers to protest a proposed $4 billion cut to K-12 public education.
By SCOTT MARTINDALE
The Orange County Register
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SACRAMENTO – A delegation of parents from the Capistrano Unified School District traveled to the state Capitol Tuesday to plead with lawmakers not to move forward with a proposed $4 billion cut to public education.
During more than four hours of private meetings with representatives for the governor and key lawmakers, eight parent leaders from the Capistrano Unified Council of PTSAs, along with school board member Duane Stiff, demanded that the state budget deficit not be balanced at the expense of California children.
"We hope that they understand that, for Capistrano Unified and for school districts across the state, the budget is absolutely unacceptable," said Kim Anderson, legislative chair for the Capistrano Unified Council of PTSAs. "We want the governor to come out with an entirely different budget. We want no legislator to support any legislation that suspends Prop. 98."
In January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed suspending Proposition 98, the California law that provides a guaranteed source of funding to K-12 schools. For Capistrano Unified, the proposed cuts would mean a $27 million shortfall, forcing the 51,000-student South County district to lay off 427 employees, including 266 teachers, and eliminate the 20:1 class-size ratio of students to teachers in the first through third grades.
Across Orange County, more than 1,590 teachers could lose their jobs and an estimated $204 million could be cut from next year's school district budgets.
'SHOUT OUT' RESULTS
Capistrano Unified's district-wide PTSA organized a "shout out" effort Monday encouraging parents to flood the offices of key Sacramento lawmakers and the governor with phone calls protesting the budget cuts.
The office of Sen. Jack Scott, chair of the Senate education committee, reported logging about 1,000 phone calls Monday from Capistrano Unified parents, said spokeswoman Wendy Gordon.
"The phones rang for eight hours nonstop – eight of our staffers answering four lines for eight hours," Gordon said. "While we're glad to hear people are energized, Sen. Scott is very much on top of it and is fighting to maintain education programs and not to make draconian cuts."
The office of Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, chair of the Assembly budget subcommittee for education, reported receiving at least 300 phone calls from Capistrano Unified parents Monday.
"It helps us know that people really are genuinely concerned," spokeswoman Jennifer Mashburn said. "You get a feel for how families are personally affected."
While the Capistrano Unified parents said their voices were being heard, they acknowledged that the news was still grim. Paul Navarro, deputy legislative secretary to the governor, told the Orange County delegates that public education would have to share in the state's fiscal crisis, Anderson said.
"He can almost guarantee there will be a suspension of Prop. 98 because there is no way to avoid that," she said. "The state budget situation is a mess."
Contact the writer: 949-454-7394 or smartindale@ocregister.com
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