Educator’s Response: Budget Cuts Mean Thousands of Teachers Lost
By Marty HittelmanCalifornia Federation of Teachers
As President of California Federation of Teachers (CFT), I vow to continue CFT’s campaign, the “Fight for California’s Future,” as an alternative to the governor’s position that we have no choice but to further reduce important social programs. Lost tax revenue due to loopholes for the rich and large corporations is costing the state's general fund billions of dollars every year. Governor Schwarzenegger is leaving a clear legacy – a legacy of saying one thing and doing the opposite. In January, he claimed he was not going to cut education, and in May he proposes to cut it by $2 billion. How does that protect education?
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State Cutbacks Imperil “the Obama Generation”
By Randy ShawFrom California to New York, massive state budget cuts are imminent. And many of these cuts directly undermine the increased funding for domestic programs that President Obama promised voters, and that the Democratic Congress enacted early in 2009. For example, while Obama offers states billions of dollars in a Race to the Top, teachers across the nation face layoffs and new teaching jobs for idealistic young people have disappeared. From an environmental agenda imperiled by nationwide public transit cuts, to a “Jobs" agenda jeopardized by state-induced layoffs, to the lack of full implementation of the President's prized national service expansion, state budget cuts imperil progressives' electoral gains of 2008. And no group risks having their expectations more shattered than the students and recent college grads – often described as "the Obama Generation” ---whose energy and turnout helped define the 2008 election cycle.
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