Other Voices: Leaders we elected must solve education funding crisis
By Paula Campbell
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12:01 a.m. PT Mar 8, 2008
In January, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his 2008-09 budget proposal including a plan to address a current year budget shortfall of $3.3 billion, as well as a cumulative budget year shortfall of $14.5 billion. His plan proposed major spending reductions include devastating cuts in the education budget.
According to Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill, state general fund revenues have increased an average 7 percent per year during the six budget years 2003-04 through the proposed 2008-09, for a total increase of 40 percent. In his recent Other Voices column, Assemblyman Rick Keene stated that state revenue has increased "... 40 percent during three of the past four years ..." It is important to clarify that this cumulative 40 percent increase represents a 7 percent yearly increase in each of six budget years. Over this same time period, state education funding through Proposition 98 has increased 30 percent. Clearly, Proposition 98 funding is not the problem.
The governor is proposing a 9 percent cut in education that includes reductions in general fund revenue, special education, child development, after-school programs, child nutrition and special program categorical funds. Make no mistake about the effect of these reductions: Statewide, class size reduction, arts and music and afterschool programs for remedial and special needs students will be cut; teachers, administrators and support personnel such as nurses will be laid off and class sizes increased; and new, innovative programs, particularly in the growing and vibrant field of career technical education that engages students who learn in nontraditional ways, will have to wait until California can develop the political will to fund the education it demands.
You might wonder why a 9-percent cut could be so difficult for school districts, but please consider that per-pupil expenditures in California schools are almost $2,000 less per child per year than the national average. We have larger classes and fewer employees than most other states. One goal of Proposition 98, which was meant to be a floor rather than a ceiling, was to keep funding for California schools in the top 10 percent of the nation as we were when I was growing up. In its recent ratings, the national publication Education Week gave California an A- for its high, rigorous standards and accountability system, but a D+ for funding. For too long, public education in California has been doing more with less, and our most disadvantaged youth suffer.
We must be clear that cuts in education funding will mean cuts in programs in our schools. I want every child in my school district and every child in this state to be able to graduate from high school ready and eager for their next, best step. I know my three children did. I want no less for every child, regardless of their circumstances, their parents' address, their ethnicity, their parents' education level, the language they speak or their disability.
We know how to do this. We have dedicated, talented and bright hard-working teachers, administrators, school board trustees, parents and community and state leaders. It is time to rise above the divisive, punitive rhetoric that characterizes discussion of accountability, to find the resources necessary to build the capacity necessary to serve all children. It is time to rise above the politics that infuse the discussion of resources, find common ground and find solutions to the enormous problem of school funding in California.
We elected our state leaders to create solutions. Now.
Paula Campbell is a trustee of the Nevada City School District and president-elect of the California School Boards Association.
