Education

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"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

I read these words on the back of hundreds of Montebello Unified School District teachers' T-shirts recently. They wore them on March 4 as they organized and rallied against state budget cuts to public education.

They were not alone. A day of passionate protest against these cuts attracted thousands of demonstrators from across the state and nation. They held rallies, walkouts, teach-ins and even funeral demonstrations to mourn the death of public education.

All of it was done in an effort to spark a movement to take us back to a time when education was not only valued, but was considered far more a right than a privilege.

With more than 30 years of experience in education, it is hard to pinpoint when the state's priorities shifted and when education was placed on the back burner.

Yet, $17 billion has already been taken away from California schools over the last two years, and it appears our state's leaders will not stop cutting unless more of us stand up and demand the state's budget no longer be balanced on the backs of our students.

MUSD is currently facing more than $50 million in budget cuts over the next three years. With nearly 90 percent of the district's budget being personnel, it is no secret that the district will be forced to make difficult decisions in order to remain fiscally solvent.

The message from the state is simple: Do more with less.

For two years, MUSD and other school districts from around the state have heard this message loud and clear.

Unfortunately "keeping cuts away from the classroom" is not realistic when more than 16,000 teachers