State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Responds
to Governor's May Budget Revision
SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today issued the following statement in response to the release of Governor Schwarzenegger's May Revision (Outside Source) to the 2010-11 Budget:"While we are still working to analyze details of the Governor's proposal, it appears that the voter-approved guarantee for K-12 education funding does not seem to have been further reduced since the Governor's January budget proposal.
"However, I have grave concerns that child care for thousands of preschool age children will be eliminated. The Governor's plan cuts $1.45 billion in state-funded child care. This cut is yet another severe blow to poor- and middle-class working families who are struggling to provide for their families. Child care is a vital and essential element in the development of young minds, and to the ability of parents to work and contribute to the state's economy.
"California is long overdue in creating a stable, consistent funding scheme for K-12 public education. We delay funding allocations to schools; we break commitments to fund class-size reduction, summer school, nurses, counselors, school librarians, and a host of other support systems that play a role in the quality of our children's education. This failure to provide adequate funding is choking off our state's economic engine to recovery and our future."