Just as recent reforms have begun to show results, massive
school cuts threaten our progress. Student achievement has
increased and test scores continue to rise.
Just as recent reforms have begun to show results, massive school cuts threaten our progress. Student achievement has increased and test scores continue to rise.
Cutting school funds won’t help our students achieve the high standards we’ve set for them. Cuts of $2 billion or more from current year school funding are on the table as state leaders try to close the gaping budget hole. Such cuts will mean fewer teachers, support staff and resources devoted to student achievement.
In order to save the amount of money being discussed, the state would have to shut down our schools for two full weeks, reduce per-pupil spending by $300 or lay off more than 35,000 teachers.
Any mid-year cuts will devastate our schools. Districts are reeling from more than $3.1 billion in cuts within the past two budget years. School districts have increased class sizes, deferred new textbook purchases, gutted music, drug awareness, English language development and other programs, laid off teachers and staff and reduced school safety personnel. The proposed cuts will make these school reductions seem mild.
We need fiscal fairness to balance the budget. The deficit should not be balanced on the backs of public school students, teachers and staff. There are fair ways to raise new revenues. The state’s leaders should construct a comprehensive, multi-year plan to resolve the state’s fiscal crisis and address the immediate and future needs of our students and schools.
Public education remains the top priority for California voters. Voters want to invest more in our public schools – not less. According to 34th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, three-fourths of Californians would cut other programs to preserve education funding. Almost 60 percent support raising state taxes to avoid cuts to education.
Restoring the top tax income tax brackets for the wealthiest of Californians will generate more than $3 billion. Federal tax relief for the wealthiest taxpayers far outweighs the amount the top brackets would recover. Will lawmakers do the right thing?
Republican lawmakers have vowed to oppose any new taxes to address the state’s projected $25-plus billion budget shortfall – meaning they’ll cut school kids before special interests. Since schools receive 40 percent of the state’s general fund expenditures, the Republicans would take that percentage from schools’ budgets.
The right to a quality public education is guaranteed to every student from kindergarten through the university level. The deficit can’t be an excuse for failing to meet the Constitutional guarantee. By cutting back school funding rather than closing tax loopholes, we sacrifice the progress we’ve made. The solutions exist to fill in the budget hole.
In addition to restoring top income tax brackets, the state should consider enacting a severance tax on oil. California remains the only state without a severance tax, and virtually the only place in the world that collects no royalties or taxes on oil removed from private lands.
It also makes sense to limit the mortgage interest deduction for mansion owners. We support limiting mortgage interest deductions to mortgages of $700,000 or less. Only the wealthiest individuals benefit from mortgage interest deductions of more than $50,000 per year.
School leaders are willing to help craft a comprehensive package of cuts and new revenues that protects the financial integrity of the state and maintains the momentum for improved student achievement. But let’s make sure the lawmakers do what the people want: Protect quality public education.
Mary Bergan is President of the California Federation of Teachers. As the statewide affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, the CFT represents more than 100,000 teachers and school employees in California, from early education through the university level.
