Mortgaging the Future

It’s been a tough school year for teachers in our state. This year we have faced challenges from the all sides of the political spectrum, and now we face almost $5 billion in devastating budget cuts. As we approach the end of the 07-08 school year and we look back, California teachers faced much more than the “regular” challenges of being educators. This past school year we had to deal with a push to re-authorize the NCLB legislation at the Federal level and not by the right, which we’ve learned to expect, but this time the push came from Democrats whom we’ve counted as allies in the past. Rep. George Miller and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in what I can only surmise as a misguided attempt to not cede the “education issue” to Republicans, were sponsoring the legislation. Teachers were able to organize and push back; the Miller/Pelosi bill never came out of committee.

As the NCLB came to at least a temporary halt, California educators now must contend with a proposed $4.8 billion in cuts to the state’s education budget. Programs are being cut, thousands of teachers have been told they would not be rehired. Schools have been closed. So as teachers bring the current school year to an end and begin planning for next school year, the outlook is bleak for many, devastating to some.

While Governor Schuwarzenegger’s proposal for a 10% across the board cut may be the political expedient way out. It’s also the lazy politician’s way out. He can claim fairness and at the same time make none of the extremely difficult decisions that a leader is elected to make. Cutting $4.8 billion from the education budget is a travesty.

At a time when companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and many of our state’s leading biotech companies are clamoring for engineers and scientists. At a time when they are importing these highly educated workers from other parts of the world to make up the shortage, we are cutting funding for colleges and universities, where engineers come from. High Schools are cutting staff and are looking at overcrowded classes and science labs where conditions will be unsafe and less than optimum for the hands on experience that science requires. In essence, this budget proposal is mortgaging the future of our children and our society.

Our state leadership is making our children pay for the mistakes of the past with their future, because they want to avoid making even more difficult and unpopular decisions. So they buy their political careers today by mortgaging the future of the next generation. The true mark of gutless politicians.

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Assemblymember Misses the Mark...Big!

Recently, California Assemblymember Martin Garrick, (Rep.) sent me a letter. Well, myself and all other constituents of the 74th Assembly District. Normally I would have passed this off as the simple act of of a state legislator using his franking privilege and letting constituents know what he is doing up in Sacramento; casting himself as the defender good and slayer of evil. But this one was difficult to dismiss.

You see, the letter was dated March 14. It was the weekend that thousands of teachers up and down the state received layoff notices. It was the week in which the Oceanside School District announced it would close two schools and the Vista Unified School District sent 133 layoff notices. Both of these districts within the Mr. Garrick's district. However, there was no mention of these catastrophes in his letter, no mention of the Governor's proposed $4.8 billion budget cut to education for next year, and no mention of the irresponsible stance by Republicans in the State legislature that they would not pursue any sort of revenue enhancements.

Assemblymember Garrick, Vice-Chair of the Education Committee, however, does address his stance regarding the high school exit exam. He states that the exam is a vital part of setting and meeting high standards in California schools. Yet he goes on to say that the exam is "not unfair, nor is it too difficult. In fact, the exam may be too easy." Even so he expresses pride in joining "fellow Republicans in voting against legislation that would allow students to graduate even if they fail the exam."

I'm left asking who is working on avoiding the proposed devastating budget cuts? Who is working on ensuring that students who must pass the exit exam aren't sitting in croweded classrooms and overburdened teachers? Who going to explain to the students of the state why they must endure the consequences of a fiscal blunder that they had no part in? I'm sure that while schools are closing, programs are being cut, and teachers are being laid off, parents will be happy to know their kids must pass the exit exam in order to get a diploma.

I suppose that while the Titanc was sinking it was important to polish the brass handrails.

Budget Crisis Insanity

State Democrats determined to raise taxes

Legislative leaders, saying school cuts under the governor's proposed budget are unacceptable, are prepared to dig in for a long fight to get about $5 billion in tax increases. (Los Angeles Times)

It's about time some sanity was brought into the debate over the California budget crisis. How does a rational leader possibly come to the conclusion that cutting $4.8 billion to the education budget is the right thing to do? When Governor Schwarzenegger took over one of the first things he did is eliminate over $6 billion in California taxes by cutting vehicle registration fees. It was a hugely popular decision in a state that has had a long love affair with cars. However, it suggests that this fiscal crisis was created by the current administration's reckless desire to cement it's popularity after coming to power in such an irregular fashion.

Two years later, the state faces a fiscal crisis and the Republican governor wants to kowtow to leaders by repeating the mantra of "no new taxes." I suppose the governor believes we are spending too much on the children of California.