My side of the line
California budget

By Rebecca JamesCourie
Editor-in-Chief

As legislators take a spring break, let’s hope that they come back refreshed and eager to find solutions to the budget. That’s almost a laugh putting the words “solutions” and “budget” in the same sentence. One definition of budget is “financial plan.” Currently, Governor Schwarzenegger’s “plan” is to cut 10 percent across the board—his solution to making the budget dilemma non-partisan. That’s honorable, after all we need to keep the parties happy so they stay focused on what the real problem is. Right!

So let’s look at the real problem. Already, the school districts are swollen with too many students and not enough teachers. Governor Schwarzenegger’s plan calls for a 1.3 percent reduction in funding K-12 education. The end result would mean less teachers and larger class sizes. Already, many teachers are handling combination classes. This means they’re teaching two different grade levels in one room. Talk about feeling pulled in two directions! With the pressure of handling students, teaching students, meeting with parents, and satisfying state mandates, let’s add the worry that they might not have a job to come to!

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell has hit the road running from district to district getting opinions from students and teachers about the proposed cuts. He’s told them, “With these cuts, we’re already seeing the elimination or the scaling back of AP classes, sports, music and art programs, and potential layoffs for at least 20,000 teachers and staff.”

This is insane! Children are the future. Teachers (and parents) help to mold and nurture them, help to give them a strong foundation upon which to build their lives, create self esteem and make a difference in the world of which we have merely been caretakers. Let’s not sabotage their future by balancing a budget precariously. Taking 10 percent across the top just to keep the parties happy is not the solution.

It’s time to take action against this “plan.” Contact the governor’s office at 916-445-2841 or e-mail him at www.gov.ca.gov and make your voice be heard. Our children depend on you.