Parents Join California Teachers In Budget Protests
SACRAMENTO (CBS / AP) -- Parent groups joined California teachers Tuesday on the front lines of a weeklong series of rallies against the possibility of deep budget cuts to education, demanding that state lawmakers raise revenue to adequately fund public schools.
At a rally outside the state Capitol, they warned that without the added revenue, schools could face disastrous repercussions: Class sizes could swell, the school year could lose a month, extra-curricular activities could disappear, and thousands of school employees could be out of work.
"We must invest in our future, or we will be the first generation to leave our children with fewer opportunities than we had," said Debbie Look, legislation director for the California State PTA.
The California Teachers Association, the state's largest teachers union, organized the week of demonstrations, which began Monday and will end Friday with rallies in cities throughout the state. Monday's rallies ended with about 150 activists occupying the rotunda area of the state Capitol, and several dozen were arrested after they refused to leave in the evening
In addition to Tuesday's events at the Capitol, teachers in Bakersfield, Stockton and throughout the Bay Area were holding "grade-ins" at shopping malls and other public locations to call attention to the work they do after hours.
Tuesday focused on the involvement of parents like Lou Beltran, who spoke to a crowd of 250 in Sacramento.
"My daughter told me today, she said, 'Mom, if our classroom sizes get bigger, what's going to happen to us?'" said Beltran, who volunteers in the classroom of one of her daughters at a Sacramento elementary school. "She's like, 'It's hard right now as it is, with these kids in the class, you know, to be focused.'"
Most in the crowd at the Capitol were teachers, some of whom called out to legislators: "Do your job, so we can do ours."
After the rally, teachers and parents visited the office of all 120 lawmakers in the state Assembly and Senate. The campaign is focused on Republicans, who earlier this year thwarted Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown's initial plan to extend recent increases in the sales, income and vehicle taxes, which are due to expire June 30.
GOP lawmakers are now pointing to a new source to pay for education: a $2.5 billion windfall in tax revenue that came to the state last month.
Republicans say they will share ideas later this week for other ways to solve the state's remaining $15.4 billion deficit without tax increases. That will come as Brown prepares his revised budget proposal, which he is expected to release Monday.
Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Modesto, said that in addition to the unexpected $2.5 billion, the state could close its budget gap with cuts from other areas.
"I would argue that this Legislature hasn't prioritized education at the level it should," said Olsen, one of the lawmakers whose district office was visited by the union. "I think the problem is we haven't been prioritizing. We're trying to be everything to everyone."
Chances of renewing taxes by the next fiscal year are dwindling, but education advocates say they can't wait until November, well into the next school year, for the Legislature to put a tax measure on the ballot. Preliminary pink slips have already gone out to 20,000 people working for public schools.
The governor, however, made a campaign promise not to raise or renew taxes without a public vote.
The week began with teachers and other interest groups pursuing a handful of GOP lawmakers in their respective districts. They expanded that lobbying to both parties Tuesday, as the California State PTA delivered more than 1,000 postcards to legislators. The cards, signed by parents to their representatives, ask for new revenue to support the state's 9 million children. Of that, 6.2 million attend public schools.
Some also said cutbacks to public schools often target programs that help the disadvantaged. Eliminating those can lead to a rise in juvenile crime, said Sumayyah Waheed, campaign director of Books Not Bars, an alliance of parents whose children are incarcerated.
"We're standing with teachers today because we want to reverse the trade-off between schools and jails," Waheed said.
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