by David Safier
Arnold Schwarzenegger is doing everything in his power to save California education. Like:
- Eliminating a week of school.
- Increasing class size.
- Freezing teacher salaries.
- Cutting the science graduation requirement from two courses to one.
- Cutting $2.1 billion from this year's education budget and $3.1 billion from next year's.
Boy oh boy, is California lucky it has a pro-education Governor!
What we've done is protect education to the extent possible," said Chief Deputy Director Ana Matosantos of the state Finance Department.
The Ed Supe is sympathetic as well.
Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction, said through a spokeswoman Wednesday that the proposed cuts could hurt families statewide but that he understands the governor's dilemma.
Jack O'Connell, you're wrong. You're absolutely and completely and 100% wrong. It's not your job to be understanding. Your job is to protect the schools, to fight the cuts with all your might. You're the most powerful spokesperson for education in the state, not a co-conspirator in slashing education to the bone.
No one who loves and supports public education should be understanding about this kind of educational amputation. California has already gone from one of the better states in terms of education to one of the worst, thanks to decades-old property tax limitation measures. And this latest move to gut the schools still further is . . . well, it's almost as bad as, say, cutting education spending in a state that already ranks 49th in education spending. (For anyone out there who hasn't heard, Arizona ranks 49th in education spending.)
I say to every Democrat in the Arizona legislature, if you go along with budget cuts to education, you're cowards and fools. We're in a hole because the Republicans demanded we cut taxes when revenues were strong rather than creating a rainy day fund. Today, those same Republicans say they don't want to reinstate a property tax that was temporarily suspended, which would help, but not fix, our budget deficit. These people now hold commanding majorities in the legislature and will soon own the Governor's chair.
Fine. Make them own every dollar that's cut from schools, kindergarten through graduate school. Let them vote to cut money to education without a single Democratic enabler voting Aye. Don't give them bipartisan cover. They have all the votes they need to pass a budget all by themselves. And they have the Governor to sign the budget.
The Republicans have been telling us for years they can cut away all the unnecessary fat from our budgets without touching the muscle and bone. Now they have their chance to prove it. Let them rise or fall, take the credit or the blame, on their own.
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