- Home
- News Grid
- Local News
- Green Hawk
- Business
- Politics
- School Zone
- Nonprofits
- Missing Pets
- Multimedia
- Arts
- Movies
- Outdoors
- Sports
- News Releases
- Columnists
- Blogs
- Opinions
- Classifieds
- Advertise
- Donate
- Partners
Education Advocates Rally in Santa Barbara in Support of Proposition 30
Education advocates who gathered for a rally Friday in Santa Barbara argued that Proposition 30 is essential to stop the budget cuts to public education in California.
“It’s our opportunity to stop that red ink, stabilize and, as the economy improves, start the climb back,” Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools Bill Cirone said.
He said schools are producing “incredible” results even while weathering budget cuts from the state and losing teachers and support staff, but the midyear cuts on the table if Proposition 30 doesn’t pass are daunting.
The county stands to lose $27.8 million in cuts to the 20 school districts, according to Cirone — the Santa Barbara Unified School District would lose $6.9 million, Goleta Union would lose $1.5 million, Santa Maria-Bonita would lose $6.3 million, Hope Elementary would lose $500,000, the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District would lose $3.8 million, Orcutt Union would lose $1.8 million and Carpinteria Unified would lose $1 million.
“Education is the R&D for our future,” Cirone said.
Proposition 30 would increase income taxes for people earning more than $250,000 for seven years, and would increase the sales tax by a quarter-cent for four years. It would guarantee public safety realignment funding and bring in an additional $6 billion in state revenues annually through 2018-2019, according to SmartVoter.
It’s not expected to give any additional funding to education, but instead would prevent multimillion-dollar midyear cuts.
Some districts have shorter school days because of staff furloughs, which Santa Barbara school board member Susan Deacon called “really unthinkable.”
Santa Barbara Teachers Association president Layne Wheeler said class sizes are also the biggest they’ve ever been, which could have big impacts for the quality of education.
In the Lompoc Unified School District, enrollment has been dropping by 200 students per year for five years, which just adds to the layoffs, said Jerry White, the lead custodian for Fillmore Elementary School.
White, a representative for the California State Employees Association, said the district has lost five school days and could lose more.
Public colleges and universities face midyear cuts as well, and SBCC would cut more class offerings if Proposition 30 fails.
Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara, who is running for a second term, said education advocates need to put their money where their mouths are.
“It’s truly a meaningless sentiment if you say you support these things unless you’re willing to put money into it,” he said.
Former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, who is running for state Senate, said Proposition 30 needs to pass to keep funding education for a state that’s dropped to the bottom in per-pupil spending.
“We’ve squeezed almost every dime of efficiency and can no longer promise children the future our parents promised and delivered to us,” she said.
Higher education institutions are looking to Proposition 30 for funding as well. UC Santa Barbara’s tuition has increased 300 percent in recent years, and would go up another 20 percent if the measure fails, according to UCSB graduate student Filiberto Nolasco.
Nolasco, in his sixth year studying history, is a teacher’s assistant and deals directly with undergraduate students on a daily basis — often to tell them there’s no room in a class. He said students are taking five years instead of four to graduate, since they can’t get the classes they need, and tuition is ever-increasing.
Absentee ballots for the Nov. 6 election will be mailed out by the County Elections Office in early October, and residents can still register to vote. Click here for the online application from the Secretary of State.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
Comments
Noozhawk's comments are moderated, but by posting here you accept your responsibility to follow our rules as part of Noozhawk's shared online community. Please keep your comments civil and helpful. Don't attack other readers personally, and do not use vulgar, abusive or discriminatory language. Use the "Report Abuse" link if a comment violates these standards or our Terms of Use
» on 09.21.12 @ 05:47 PM
Oh my, there is so much BS in this article, I almost don’t know where to begin.
I would bet the advocates of this Prop any amount of money this tax increase will not bring in an additional $6 billion. Most of this money will depend on the stock market and the so-called rich people paying capital gains and taxes on investment income. So far, every projection of revenue by our geniuses in Sacramento has been wildly wrong. This projection is just a guess, based on highly doubtful assumptions.
Second, all the money that will supposedly be raised by these higher taxes will need to go the CAlSTRS to pay the additional contributions required to plug the hole in the teachers pension fund. Currently, it has $65 billion of unfunded liabilities.
I wonder how much of a hit Mr.Cirone, the Superintendent of no district or school, will have to take. His department has a few hundred people working there and a budget somewhere on the order of $50 million, almost half of the SB School District. As I have said a million times, every school district in the county already has a superintendent, so you have to wonder why so much money is funneled to this additional layer of bureaucracy. California is the only state in the country that has these county offices of education.
As everyone knows who reads my stuff, no amount of money is going to change the culture of our schools until we institute much-needed reforms. There is no reputable study that correlates spending and educational outcomes in districts with similar socioeconomic profiles. America has the second highest per capital spending for public education in the world and is in the bottom half for educational outcomes. A sorry state of affairs.
This is going to sound harsh, but almost every person cited in this article is responsible for the lousy results we are getting from our schools. This is your status quo crowd that has resisted almost every commonsensical reform for our schools. The only thing they can come up with is their holy grail of more money, regardless of the problem. When close to half our kids are not proficient in math and/or English, it is extremely disappointing to have this group of people running our schools. I hope the voters will speak out about this on Nov 6.
» on 09.21.12 @ 06:23 PM
how many billions are needed to run the public schools? maybe Cirone should donate 1/2 of his pay and pension to the cause or just the amount over $150k per year.
» on 09.22.12 @ 09:00 AM
No new taxes without pension reform and reduction in size of government.
» on 09.22.12 @ 04:45 PM
I free no on 30.
I am undecided on the local bonds, but leaning towards ‘no’ on them too. At least there is more local control over the local bond money, but we do need some serious reform.
I’ve always voted yes on local school bonds, but without some serious reform on pensions, senority and performance reviews money will not help.
» on 09.22.12 @ 08:44 PM
As most of you are aware, I am running for the SB School Board. If anyone is curious, you may peruse my website for my bio, priorities, position paper and political philosophy
More Local News »
With Renewed Focus, SBCC Graduate Robert Gutierrez Sees Bright Future
After a stint in prison, the aspiring bioengineering researcher turned his life around and is headed to a prestigious university
Santa Barbara Partners in Education President’s Council: A Noozhawk Special Project
Rae Largura: Tips to Help Students Ace Their Finals
Allan Hancock College Approves Contract with New President
Kevin Walthers, who heads Las Positas College in the Bay Area, will begin his duties July 8
Santa Barbara Partners in Education to Host Annual Student Awards Breakfast
Weather: Fair 63.0º
Search Noozhawk »
