There IS a Better Way to Fund California Education

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Marty Hittelman
President
California Federation of Teachers

The governor’s proposed budget for schools and other vital public services will impede efforts to provide high-quality education. Our schools rank dead last in the nation for the number of teachers per student, as well as in the number of librarians, counselors and critical support staff, while having some of the largest class sizes in the nation. California is 46th in the nation in per-pupil spending.

The governor’s budget proposal keeps our schools and students at the bottom of those rankings, despite recent studies that show California needs to spend 40 percent more to ensure that all students meet the state’s rigorous standards.

The governor’s budget revision tries to protect education, but lacks the funding to do it. Continuing to balance this budget with a cuts-only approach hurts children, schools and the economic future of California. The final budget agreement must be built squarely on new progressive tax revenues to protect education funding.

The founders of this nation did not say, “No new taxes.” They said, “No taxation without representation.” We do have “representation.” We elect people to serve in government and to make decisions about the best way to address challenges of common liking, we can choose not to re-elect them. Any legislator who makes a blanket “no new taxes pledge” is abdicating his or her responsibility. Taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized society.

Selling bonds based on future lottery proceeds is not the answer. It postpones some of the hurt that the governor’s budget proposal would inflict, but it also shifts the burden to adequately fund education and other vital services into the future. The lottery gamble would also undercut future revenue that already is currently targeted for education from lottery proceeds. Lotteries across the U.S. are heading downward in revenues, not upward. Whether this dip is due to the competition from Indian casinos, Internet poker or the economic slowdown, no one knows. But the lottery proposal adds up to a very bad gamble for education.