San Francisco children deserve a first-class education that holds the promise of a bright future.
Unwise and unnecessary budget cuts threaten that promise.
Here in San Francisco, the superintendent and school board have already announced plans to lay off 811 teachers—nearly one out of every five—and 277 teacher aides at the end of this year. If this plan goes through, it will mean a dramatic increase in class sizes in every public school, and a dramatic decrease in staff available to help special needs students and those who would benefit from extra attention and assistance.
There are alternatives to these drastic budget cuts.
The superintendent and school board must make students their top priority when it comes to deciding how school funds are spent. That’s not the case today. The district currently spends nearly one-tenth of its budget on consultants and is sitting on millions of dollars of surplus funds. This is money that should be spent in the classroom helping students succeed.
We also need lawmakers in Sacramento who are willing to make education the priority it once was in our state. In the past two years, $21 billion in education funding has been cut from the state’s budget. These cuts have been felt in San Francisco, and in every other city and town in California. We need to invest in our children, instead of repeatedly selling out their futures for a short-term budget fix.
Your voice can make a difference.
Click the links below to send a message to the school board and state Legislature supporting the United Educators of San Francisco’s call to Put Our Children First.
