[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Monday: Hundreds of School Board Members Deliver 325 Resolutions to Governor Opposing Budget Cuts, along with Thousands of Parent Letters

Tuesday: Hundreds of Teachers Come to Sacramento for Legislative Lobby Day; CTA "Cuts Hurt" Bus Makes Final Stop at State Capitol

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Lloyd Levine
Member
California State Assembly

[Editor’s note: Assemblymember Levine will join Dr. David Long, the Governor's Secretary of Education and other panelists today at the California state PTA convention in Long Beach, to discuss the proposed school budget cuts at a workshop called "Hot Topics of the Legislature. I’d like to be a fly on the wall for this one.]

CALIFORNIANS are gearing up for the dog days of summer at the beach, lounging in the bleacher seats at Dodger Stadium and in summer-school classrooms.

That's right, summer school - where many kids today are willing to give up their Boogie boards for books to improve a grade, jump on the math fast track or get physical education out of the way to take Advanced Placement chemistry in the fall.

For a good many California teens, summer school is usually the prep work needed to get into the college of their choice.

But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget - which cuts $4.8billion in education funding - is throwing a wrench into summer school, and it's not even June. Such slashing could cause big problems for college-bound students.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Note: Assemblymember Levine will join Dr. David Long, the Governor's Secretary of Education and other panelists today at the California state PTA convention in Long Beach, to discuss the proposed school budget cuts at a workshop called "Hot Topics of the Legislature."

This op-ed appeared in today's Los Angeles Daily News:

"CALIFORNIANS are gearing up for the dog days of summer at the beach, lounging in the bleacher seats at Dodger Stadium and in summer-school classrooms.

That's right, summer school -- where many kids today are willing to give up their Boogie boards for books to improve a grade, jump on the math fast track or get physical education out of the way to take Advanced Placement chemistry in the fall.

For a good many California teens, summer school is usually the prep work needed to get into the college of their choice.

But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget -- which cuts $4.8billion in education funding - is throwing a wrench into summer school, and it's not even June. Such slashing could cause big problems for college-bound students. ..."

Go to the Daily News for more.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Democrats and Republicans Should Put Cards on the Table

Blaming the Legislature (Or the Governor) Helps No One

By Frank D. Russo

I am in a curmudgeonly mood this morning as I read charges and countercharges over the state budget. I fear we are going through the movie “Groundhog Day” again on the California state budget—what Governor Schwarzenegger likes to call a Kabuki dance.

There is a real disconnect here. And it’s not the kind that needs a constitutional amendment on spending or other distractions.

Here’s the problem. The Governor is jetting about to all sorts of staged events—he calls some of them townhall meetings—and appears before local Chambers of Commerce and the like. Throw in a few chats with the local newspaper editorial board. Avoid large crowds of ordinary Californians who you can’t control—and by all means don’t show up at community events where parents, teachers, school administrators, and ordinary citizens are talking about school budget cuts.