Letter: We must invest in California's children
Comments 1 | Recommend 0April 04, 2010 12:00:00 AM
California's recently enacted state budget that cuts $11.6 billion from public education is an unacceptable "solution" to the state's budget crisis. It is a short-term fix, at best, and the revenue that will be saved from cutting funds to something as vital to society as the school system is miniscule in comparison to the problems that an uneducated mass of citizens can create.
Education, being a fundamental part of a society that values progress, is certainly not something that should be punished (especially for a debt that it did not contribute to in the first place). Last month, 26,590 pink slips (which signify potential layoffs to teachers and staff) were given out by the deadline of March 15. In the event that only half of these layoff notices actually resulted in a loss of jobs, class sizes in all grades would increase to seemingly overwhelming levels. According the California Teachers Association, as of the 2007-08 school year, California already had the largest class size "with an average of 50 teachers per 1,000 students."
This plan is enacted at a time when our state was already ranked 47th in the country for federal spending on public
Education, being a fundamental part of a society that values progress, is certainly not something that should be punished (especially for a debt that it did not contribute to in the first place). Last month, 26,590 pink slips (which signify potential layoffs to teachers and staff) were given out by the deadline of March 15. In the event that only half of these layoff notices actually resulted in a loss of jobs, class sizes in all grades would increase to seemingly overwhelming levels. According the California Teachers Association, as of the 2007-08 school year, California already had the largest class size "with an average of 50 teachers per 1,000 students."
This plan is enacted at a time when our state was already ranked 47th in the country for federal spending on public