county superintendent

Why Must the California Budget Deficit Be Closed on the Backs of Teachers and Students?

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Robert-Cruickshank.gifBy Robert Cruickshank

If every Californian paid an extra $150 a year in vehicle license fees, $6.1 billion would be raised eliminating the proposed budget cuts to health care, parks, and education. If we closed the tax loopholes that LAO Elizabeth Hill identified - as Arnold kinda sorta agreed we should - we would raise $2.5 billion, over half of the $4.4 billion cuts proposed in Arnold's budget.

Or we could fire thousands of teachers. From today's Orange County Register:

“More than 1,590 teachers could lose their jobs.

“Class sizes in hundreds of classrooms might increase from 20 to 30 students.

“And one district may shutter a campus altogether.

“The county's 28 school districts are deep in efforts to develop plans to cut about $204 million, or 5 percent, from their operating budgets in the face of a mounting state budget crisis.

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