Education Coalition's Statement on the May Revise Budget

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Parents and educators have voiced their strong opposition to all cuts to schools and students. And while the Governor’s revised budget proposal avoids suspending Proposition 98, the state’s minimum school funding law, it still cuts billions of dollars from public education. It makes cuts to the many vital programs that help student achievement, like class size reduction. It also fails to include a cost-of-living adjustment for schools, despite the steadily increasing operating costs for local districts. With this budget, schools and students are once again being asked to “do more with less.”
 
With more than 20,000 layoff notices already sent to teachers, custodians, school bus drivers, principals and other school employees around the state, California's schools and students have paid a steep price for proposed budget cuts. Many teachers have already been recruited to leave the state. In addition, many school districts have already been forced to cut music, arts and career technical education programs.

These facts remain: all cuts hurt students and California's schools are still woefully underfunded. Our schools rank dead last in the nation for the number of teachers per student, as well as in the number of librarians, counselors and critical support staff, while having some of the largest class sizes in the nation. Today's budget proposal keeps our schools and students at the bottom of those rankings, despite recent studies that show that California needs to spend 40 percent more to ensure that all students meet the state's rigorous standards.

Continuing to balance this budget with a cuts-only approach hurts children and schools. The final budget agreement must include increased revenues as part of any approach to balancing the budget. We look forward to working with the Legislature and the governor in passing a state budget that invests in the future of our students and our state.