CA: State education chief calls for more funds for schools

San Diego Union -Tribune ^ | 1/24/05 | Jennifer Coleman - AP

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO – Saying funding for public education is "bottoming out," Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said Monday he will focus on increasing state money for schools and will campaign to reduce the threshold necessary to pass local parcel taxes.

In his State of Education speech to education advocates, O'Connell criticized Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's spending plan, saying it was wrong to frame the budget woes as a choice between cutting health care for the elderly or public education.

"It is a choice between tax relief for the wealthiest Californians – those who have benefited most from federal tax policies – and funding for health and schools," O'Connell said.

It's another sign of growing opposition to Schwarzenegger's $111.7 billion budget plan, which would provide $2.9 billion more for public education – just enough to keep pace with growth and inflation. Education advocates say the $36.5 billion education budget still shorts schools nearly $2 billion in unanticipated revenue from the current year.

"I do not believe the citizens of California are willing to sacrifice the future of their children" to close the budget gap, O'Connell said.

He also took on the governor's proposal to switch teachers from a tenure-based system to merit pay. Schwarzenegger called his plan a way to "reward good teachers and expel those who are not."

But O'Connell, who still holds a valid teaching credential, rejected the idea that "all we need to do is get rid of some ineffective teachers, and somehow student achievement will improve.

"The problem with our schools is not our teachers," O'Connell said. "The problem is that education is significantly underfunded in this state."

[BurbankKarl]

exactly how many 1099s will you not be filing this month?

[bayourod]

As I've said before, I've never knowingly hired an illegal employee and right now have no employees.

But the landscaping company that maintains my yard for $30 a week might employ illegals.

As some of the restaurants I dine in, as some of the companies that repair the roads I drive on, pick up my garbage, wash my cars, clean the hospitals and office buildings I may visit, pick the produce I eat, build the electronic products I use, load the appliances I buy onto trucks, keep my auto and home insurance premiums lower by reducing the costs of repairs, etc...

[Stang2005]

As I understand it the contribution from the lottery offsets the States contribution to the schools, the clincher being that the state maintains the highest level thus creating a net loss for schools when lottery activity is less. OAccording to the schools principal our local small elementary school lost 80K in one year directly due to the lottery. I am in process of researching the exact language for this so I can send it to the teachers union. Anyone else ever hear about this, I doubt it.
Stan

[Mr. Jeeves]

Saying funding for public education is "bottoming out,"...

BWAHAHAHA! I needed a laugh this morning. Bottoming out at 30 billion +??? Cry me a river.