Education


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A gloomy future looms for California schools if the state doesn't find a way to increase the number of teachers it employs, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said Tuesday.
Photo Gallery: Jack O'Connell speaks at John Muir High School
Speaking before an audience of educators, students and Pasadena Unified School District officials assembled at John Muir High School, O'Connell said that without a pipeline for new teachers, classrooms will swell and education in the state will suffer.
"During the past several years there has been unrelenting devastation to education," O'Connell said pointing to $17 billion cut from the state's education budget in the past five years.
O'Connell's plan is to support a bill in Sacramento to lower the threshold for passing a parcel tax from two-thirds to 55 percent.
The stance comes as Pasadena Unified supporters hope voters approve a district-wide a $120 annual parcel tax. The parcel tax mail-in ballots are due May 4.
Supporters say that money from the parcel tax would help close the district's