May 19, 2009
Dear Colleagues,
These truly are trying times for Education in the state of California. The unsettling economic situation has left all of us feeling concerned for our profession. On a daily basis we hear horror stories about people losing their jobs after years of employment. We are fortunate to be educators yet we are facing our own set of financial hurdles. Severe cuts to the California education profession in California are just that....severe.
At the state level CTA is working hard to prevent cuts but do know that if
Propositions 1A & 1B do not pass more cuts are imminent. $3.6 billion will be cut in the 09-10 school year. What does $3.6 billion equal? According to the Department of Finance this could result in laying off over 51,000 teachers state-wide, reducing per pupil spending by $600+, closing schools for several days (10-20 days est.), increasing class size by 15%, laying off 85,000 classified employees and eliminating ALL music and art programs.
At our local level VTA is working hard to prevent further cuts. At this point in time the following has been maintained: *Class Size Reduction has been maintained at 20:1 (including those five sites who have CSR at the Kindergarten level).
* Class sizes at all other grades have been maintain also. * Our salaries have not been frozen.
* Step and column is still in place. * Stipends have been maintained. * VTA members on budget committee have worked to keep cuts away from the classroom. Daily state budget woes are reported out from CTA, the Department of Education, California School Board Association, California School Services and the Classified Connection to mention a few all sharing the same dismal news. What can we do? Encourage and educate voters to support the pass of Propositions 1A & 1B. CTA will be hosting phone banks and information meetings up and down our state. For more information about these propositions and how to volunteer see page 2. I know this special election comes at a bad time, falling in the middle of state testing and year-end exams, and I want to thank everyone who has been making phone calls and urging the public to support these propositions. We must keep up the hard work. Proposition 1A stabilizes future state funding, creates a long-term reserve fund to prevent further cuts to schools and works with Prop 1B to repay $9.3 billion owed to public schools. Proposition 1B repays schools more than $9 billion: money that would help rehire teachers and restore vital student programs. I urge you to continue talking to colleagues, family members and friends. Ask them to vote on May 19th and stand up for public schools once again.
Sincerely,
Jan O’Reilly
VTA President
www.vistata.org
These truly are trying times for Education in the state of California. The unsettling economic situation has left all of us feeling concerned for our profession. On a daily basis we hear horror stories about people losing their jobs after years of employment. We are fortunate to be educators yet we are facing our own set of financial hurdles. Severe cuts to the California education profession in California are just that....severe.
At the state level CTA is working hard to prevent cuts but do know that if
Propositions 1A & 1B do not pass more cuts are imminent. $3.6 billion will be cut in the 09-10 school year. What does $3.6 billion equal? According to the Department of Finance this could result in laying off over 51,000 teachers state-wide, reducing per pupil spending by $600+, closing schools for several days (10-20 days est.), increasing class size by 15%, laying off 85,000 classified employees and eliminating ALL music and art programs.
At our local level VTA is working hard to prevent further cuts. At this point in time the following has been maintained: *Class Size Reduction has been maintained at 20:1 (including those five sites who have CSR at the Kindergarten level).
* Class sizes at all other grades have been maintain also. * Our salaries have not been frozen.
* Step and column is still in place. * Stipends have been maintained. * VTA members on budget committee have worked to keep cuts away from the classroom. Daily state budget woes are reported out from CTA, the Department of Education, California School Board Association, California School Services and the Classified Connection to mention a few all sharing the same dismal news. What can we do? Encourage and educate voters to support the pass of Propositions 1A & 1B. CTA will be hosting phone banks and information meetings up and down our state. For more information about these propositions and how to volunteer see page 2. I know this special election comes at a bad time, falling in the middle of state testing and year-end exams, and I want to thank everyone who has been making phone calls and urging the public to support these propositions. We must keep up the hard work. Proposition 1A stabilizes future state funding, creates a long-term reserve fund to prevent further cuts to schools and works with Prop 1B to repay $9.3 billion owed to public schools. Proposition 1B repays schools more than $9 billion: money that would help rehire teachers and restore vital student programs. I urge you to continue talking to colleagues, family members and friends. Ask them to vote on May 19th and stand up for public schools once again.
Sincerely,
Jan O’Reilly
VTA President
www.vistata.org