The next edition of Real Talk, A Santa Barbara Forum, a candid interview with state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, takes aim at California’s crisis in funding for public schools and is now airing on Santa Barbara Channels’ Channel 21.

During the first half-hour, program host and moderator Jerry Roberts interviews O’Connell about the state budget crisis and its effect on education, the economic stimulus and its impact, the May 19 special election, test scores and California’s ranking in school spending.

The second half-hour includes a panel discussion of how local schools are coping with the financial pressures. The guests are Washington School first-grade teacher Celeste Darga; Santa Barbara Junior High eighth-grade English teacher Sandy Robertson; and Robin Sawaske, associate superintendent of the Santa Barbara School District.

Real Talk, A Santa Barbara Forum airs at noon and 8:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays, midnight and 5 p.m. Wednesdays, an 7 p.m. Sundays.

Click here for more information on the Santa Barbara Channels.

— Hap Freund is executive director of the Santa Barbara Channels.