The state education funding crisis has led to massive teacher layoffs, larger class sizes, even school closures, and has spurred Congressman George Miller, D-Solano, to renew his call for action to help save education jobs.

Specifically, Miller, who chairs the Education and Labor Committee, is urging his House and Senate colleagues to approve $23 billion in funding that could save and create hundreds of thousands of education jobs across the country, including an estimated $2.8 billion to support education jobs in California.

"Teacher layoffs threaten our economic recovery and long-term stability at every level. This is a serious problem in my district and in the districts of my colleagues and it deserves serious attention," he stated in a press release. "Our teachers can't afford to lose their jobs, our children can't afford to lose a year of learning and our nation can't afford to stall the progress we've made to get our economy and our children's education back on track."

Miller has proposed directing $23 billion in federal dollars to local schools to help make up for state and local budget shortfalls.

The "Education Jobs" funding would be directed to California and then passed on to local school districts across the state using already established state funding formulas. This is the same infrastructure as the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Miller noted.

John Aycock, superintendent

of the Vacaville Unified School District, said that any funds to help sustain jobs and programs would be welcome, adding that he appreciates the work Miller does on behalf of education. For a district the size of Vacaville Unified, that