CALIFORNIA EDUCATION COALITION
STATE BUDGET TALKING POINTS
California State PTA will be working with the Education Coalition to
inform legislators and the public about the severity of the proposed
budget cuts. Below are some initial Talking Points that you may
utilize in addition to the points emphasized in California State PTA’s
statement.
- While
it is clear there are extraordinary challenges in balancing the state’s
budget, the Education Coalition strongly opposes the Governor’s 2008-09
budget proposal and his plans to eviscerate Proposition 98. Our
students and schools did not create this budget problem, and their
progress shouldn’t be undermined because of it.
- The
governor’s budget reductions would be disastrous to public schools and
they are fundamentally inconsistent with the state’s goal of improving
student achievement. A $4.4 billion cut to Prop. 98 would mean laying
off tens of thousands of teachers and would also result in increases in
class size throughout the state, not to mention a further erosion of
the support system for students provided by classified and
paraprofessional staff.
- Voters
passed Prop. 98 almost 20 years ago to ensure our students and schools
receive minimum funding. They strongly reaffirmed their support for the
minimum funding law in 2005. Proposals to suspend Prop. 98 conflict
with the will of the voters and jeopardize the minimum education
funding levels Prop. 98 provides for students and schools.
- According to a report released this week from Education Week,
California spends $2,000 less per student than the national average.
Other recent studies have shown that California seriously underfunds
its public schools, with New York spending 75 percent more than
California. The “Getting Down to Facts” studies show that billions more
would be necessary to ensure the opportunity for all students to meet
the state’s rigorous academic standards. In addition, California has
some of the most overcrowded classrooms as well as the greatest
shortage of librarians, counselors and other critical support staff in
the nation.
- Experts
including the Fordham Foundation (one of the nation's leading
proponents of rigorous academic standards), the Public Policy Institute
of California, EdSource and researchers at Stanford University all
confirm that California's K-12 academic and performance standards are
among the most challenging in the nation. With hard work, modest
investments in teacher training and the adoption of standards-aligned
textbooks, our students and schools have been making progress. Reading
scores are up 25 percent and math scores have increased 17 percent in
the last four years. This progress cannot continue with these proposed
cuts to our public schools.
- A
state budget proposal that looks at cuts alone is not a real solution,
because it doesn’t address California’s underlying problem of
inadequate and unstable revenue sources. We cannot talk about spending
cuts without also talking about increasing revenues.
- The
most pressing challenge is to enact a balanced budget that continues
the momentum of educational improvement that has been built since the
late 1990s. This budget does not do that and anything less is
unacceptable.
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