As you have been hearing, the California State Budget is facing a crisis and the Governor is asking for budget cuts of more than 10% across the board and a suspension of Prop 98 (the voter approved minimum funding guarantee for schools). This represents devastating cuts to education and will have a direct impact on our children's education.

Here's what you can:  Write a personalized letter or use the template letter and send it to Governor Schwarzenegger, Senator Carol Migden and Assemblyman Jared Huffman at the addresses below. The more personalized the letter, the better and please be sure to include your name and address so that they can verify you as a constituent. While letters and emails have the greatest impact, you can also make a phone call to their offices. Again, just be sure to include your name and address so that your contact may be counted.

To make it easier, to show our unity, and to have an even greater impact, Dr. Jan Derby will deliver all the letters that are turned into her office by 12 Noon on Monday, February 25, 2008.

• Write your legislators
  • Sample Letter to Legislator or Governor from NUSD Parent
• Write Letters to the Editor of the Advance & IJ
  • Sample Letter - Parent
  • Sample Letter - Employee
• Share information with your neighbors who may not have kids in school
• Support School Fuel who will in turn directly support our schools
• Participate in SLT, PTA, ELAC and Budget Adviosry to share creative ideas
• Attend community forums to brainstorm revenue enhancements

Assembly Member Jared Huffman
State Capitol, Room 4139
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-319-2006 office
916-319-2106 fax

tisha.simpson@asm.ca.gov (be sure to include your name and home address for this to count)

Senator Carole Migden
State Capitol, Room 5114
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-651-4003 office
916-445-4722 fax

senator.migden@sen.ca.gov (be sure to include your name and home address for this to count)

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160

http://gov.ca.gov/interact#contact (link to e-mail the Governor, be sure to include your name and home address for this to count).

Assembly Member Jean Fuller
Assembly Budget Subcommittee
State Capitol, Room 3098
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2032
Fax: (916) 319-2132

Email: Assembly Member Fuller

David Long, Ph.D - Secretary of Education
1121 L Street, Suite 600
Sacramento, Ca 95814
916-323-0611 (phone)
916-323-3753 (fax)

Senator Don Perata, Senate President pro Tem
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone:  (916) 651-4009
Fax:  (916) 327-1997

Email: Senator Perata

CALIFORNIA EDUCATION COALITION
STATE BUDGET TALKING POINTS

California State PTA will be working with the Education Coalition to inform legislators and the public about the severity of the proposed budget cuts.  Below are some initial Talking Points that you may utilize in addition to the points emphasized in California State PTA’s statement.

• While it is clear there are extraordinary challenges in balancing the state’s budget, the Education Coalition strongly opposes the Governor’s 2008-09 budget proposal and his plans to eviscerate Proposition 98. Our students and schools did not create this budget problem, and their progress shouldn’t be undermined because of it.
  
  
• The governor’s budget reductions would be disastrous to public schools and they are fundamentally inconsistent with the state’s goal of improving student achievement. A $4.4 billion cut to Prop. 98 would mean laying off tens of thousands of teachers and would also result in increases in class size throughout the state, not to mention a further erosion of the support system for students provided by classified and paraprofessional staff.  
  
  
• Voters passed Prop. 98 almost 20 years ago to ensure our students and schools receive minimum funding. They strongly reaffirmed their support for the minimum funding law in 2005. Proposals to suspend Prop. 98 conflict with the will of the voters and jeopardize the minimum education funding levels Prop. 98 provides for students and schools.
  
  
• According to a report released this week from Education Week, California spends $2,000 less per student than the national average. Other recent studies have shown that California seriously underfunds its public schools, with New York spending 75 percent more than California. The “Getting Down to Facts” studies show that billions more would be necessary to ensure the opportunity for all students to meet the state’s rigorous academic standards. In addition, California has some of the most overcrowded classrooms as well as the greatest shortage of librarians, counselors and other critical support staff in the nation.
  
  
• Experts including the Fordham Foundation (one of the nation's leading proponents of rigorous academic standards), the Public Policy Institute of California, EdSource and researchers at Stanford University all confirm that California's K-12 academic and performance standards are among the most challenging in the nation. With hard work, modest investments in teacher training and the adoption of standards-aligned textbooks, our students and schools have been making progress. Reading scores are up 25 percent and math scores have increased 17 percent in the last four years. This progress cannot continue with these proposed cuts to our public schools.  
  
  
• A state budget proposal that looks at cuts alone is not a real solution, because it doesn’t address California’s underlying problem of inadequate and unstable revenue sources. We cannot talk about spending cuts without also talking about increasing revenues.
  
  
• The most pressing challenge is to enact a balanced budget that continues the momentum of educational improvement that has been built since the late 1990s. This budget does not do that and anything less is unacceptable.