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 On the same day the Legislature finally passed a state budget, members of the Jefferson Elementary Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 3267, in Daly City and Colma, participated in a statewide day of protest against the continuing defunding of public education. Patrick Malone photo
October 8, Sacramento—California Federation of Teachers (CFT) President Marty Hittelman responded to the passage of a State Budget for 2010-11 by the Legislature. Hittelman criticized the budget that suspends Prop. 98, cuts an additional $4.3 billion from public education, creates a two-tier retirement system for some public employees, and provides tax loopholes for huge corporations.
“The 2010-11 State Budget cuts $4.3 billion more from education, on top of $17 billion in previous cuts in the past two years. This budget defers $1.9 billion in required Prop. 98 funding ($1.7 billion for K-12 and $189 million for community colleges). Instead of raising new revenues, the state budget hands out more than $118 million in tax breaks to some of the largest corporations, including penalty reductions and tax breaks for Comcast, Microsoft and oil companies.”
“This year’s budget is one more reason to vote yes on Proposition 25,” said Hittelman. “Once again, a tiny minority of the Legislature has refused to fund education, and has demanded sweetheart deals for corporations in exchange for voting for a state budget. Once more, the 2/3rds requirement has been used as a roadblock to passing a budget on time. We urge passage of Prop. 25– the current budget process is not working for those who seek to better themselves through public education.”
“California students are being denied the individual attention they need to succeed. More than 30,000 educators have been laid off in the past two years, while more than 10,000 school support staff have lost their jobs; students have less adult supervision and fewer resources to help them learn,” said Hittelman.
“Continuing to reduce education and social service funding while handing out tax breaks to Comcast and Microsoft shows the failure of the budget to reflect the priorities of the people of California. Cutting those at the lower end of the economic scale while handing out benefits to those at the top is appalling,” said Hittelman. |
