ANTA CRUZ - Santa Cruz County's K-12 and community college leaders gathered on the steps of the county courthouse in the rain Wednesday to build momentum for local efforts in today's day-long statewide movement to draw attention to California's education crisis.
"The future of California depends on the quality of the public education system," said Santa Cruz County Office of Education Superintendent Michael Watkins, who called on union leaders, students and superintendents to speak on how the $20 billion state budget deficit has trickled down to their districts of a few thousand students.
Last year, federal funds and district rainy day funds helped shore up several districts, including hers, said Soquel Union Elementary School District Superintendent Kathleen Howard. This year, there are no such funds, and the district will be giving preliminary pink slips to one of every four teachers in the small district.
"We have to layoff teachers because we can't guarantee their jobs," she said.
Brian King, president and superintendent of Cabrillo College, agreed with Howard, who said administrators have become de facto budget experts, rather than educators.
"We're getting too good at this budget process," he said.
Cabrillo is in its third year of cuts.
UCSC students have protested in small numbers since January against fee hikes and the loss of programs. At dawn, they plan to gather at the foot of the school, and will stay there all
day, picketing, protesting, trying to block access to the campus in the name of an education that is becoming too expensive for some.