Santa Barbara parents, teachers and students rallied in front of the Downtown Post Office on Tuesday afternoon as part of the Educate Our State campaign, a push for more public education funding and support of Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed tax extensions.
Polly Pelly, mother of Peabody Charter School students, helped organize the rally.
“It’s desperately sad we’re at the bottom of the barrel for funding,” she said, referring to California’s rank as 47th in the country in per-pupil education funding.
Local school employees are trying to protect class sizes and quality of education, but could face major layoffs or labor concessions, according to physical education teacher Jeff Holbrook. All Santa Barbara School District staff members are involved in negotiations for furlough days, and Holbrook said there is talk of freezing salary step raises and increased insurance costs.
Education of the state’s children has to be the priority, said a fifth-grade Peabody teacher who gave his name only as John.
Many parents and teachers from elementary schools brought their children, who proved enthusiastic sign holders, to the rally as well.
“A great school doesn’t come for free,” Peabody Principal Kate Ford said at the rally, adding that it’s not a Peabody attitude to give up. Passage of the tax extensions are critical for the school, she added, saying that the move would send $250,000 to Peabody for the coming year.
It was a busy day for Ford, who earlier had announced her resignation. She will be moving on to work as a senior program officer of secondary education with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle.
Later Tuesday night, she appeared before the Santa Barbara school board to ask for 20 more students, which would allow more people within the attendance boundaries to enroll there and bring in a much-needed $75,000. There wasn’t much support, since a 20-student loss would cost the district twice that.
Educate Our State parent-led rallies were held all over California. The group was started by Bay Area “PTA moms” in 2009, according to its website.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk or @NoozhawkNews. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.
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