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<\/p>\nSacramento, CA…Today, the Education Coalition, comprised of the nine statewide K-12 education associations that work closely to advocate for the six million students in California\u2019s public schools and colleges, urged California\u2019s lawmakers to adopt a funding solution to the COVID-19-related budget crisis in the June budget. The group said that without adequate funding, schools cannot open on time safely.<\/p>\n
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Under the Governor\u2019s proposed budget, a 10% cut ($6.5 billion) to the Local Control Funding Formula equates to:<\/em><\/p>\n The group announced that preparing each classroom, library, gym, lunchroom, and school bus for the safe return of students, teachers, and staff will require significant resources and planning. Without adequate funding, this will not be feasible, even after public health officials provide guidance and clearance, given the additional staff needed and associated increased costs.<\/p>\n \u201cDeep budget cuts to public education will stand in the way of preparing our schools for the safe return of students and educators and further prolong the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,\u201d said\u00a0E. Toby Boyd, President of California Teachers Association (CTA). \u201cSchools and colleges cannot reopen safely with the funding level proposed in the revised budget plan. We urge the governor and the legislature to prioritize equity in our public schools by rejecting cuts and addressing this funding crisis now so schools can prepare to reopen safely in the fall. Our students, parents, teachers, school employees, administrators, and supporters are looking to you to join us in making our students\u2019 safety and well-being the number one priority.\u201d<\/p>\n “We are here today to speak as one voice to unequivocally say to our elected leaders in Sacramento – Our schools cannot safely reopen with the proposed cuts to public education,\u201d said\u00a0Jeff Freitas, President of the California Federation of Teachers (CFT).<\/p>\n \u201cTo open schools safely, California schools need more money, not less,\u201d said\u00a0Celia Jaffe, President of the California State PTA. \u201cWe have to make sure the budget reflects how the state values the health, welfare and safety of our children.\u201d<\/p>\n “County Superintendents of Schools annually review and approve the budget of every school district in the state, so we know that school districts are under enormous financial stress right now,\u201d said\u00a0Peter Birdsall, Executive Director of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA). \u201cCounty Superintendents are working with school districts to ensure that when schools reopen, students and staff can return to a safe environment. With the need for blended learning, social distancing and enhanced cleaning, fewer resources will create a tremendous challenge to effectively meeting this goal.”<\/p>\n \u201cThe May Revision budget proposal will prevent many schools from opening safely as expenses for COVID-19 response have exacerbated the already precarious financial situation of public schools,\u201d said\u00a0Vernon M. Billy, CEO of California Schools Boards Association (CSBA). \u201cThe Governor\u2019s May Revise is simply not realistic. It\u2019s equivalent to asking a Tesla owner to drive their electric car from Sacramento to Los Angeles and back on a single charge. It\u2019s not realistic. In February \u2013 before the pandemic \u2013 we conducted a survey of school districts\u2019 financial conditions which found that 77 percent of school districts were already deficit spending and more than a third were contemplating layoffs. We are asking the Legislature and Governor for a realistic budget that funds our schools appropriately and allows us to provide students with an education in a safe and supportive environment during this pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n “Classified school staff have been serving on the front lines of this crisis since day one and the need for their essential work will only increase as we identify the additional measures needed to address the real health and safety needs of our students and communities,\u201d said\u00a0Ben Valdepe\u00f1a, President of the California School Employees Association (CSEA). \u201cThe governor’s initial budget proposal falls short of meeting those needs, but we look forward to working with him and the Legislature in developing a solution that does.”<\/p>\n \u201cThese trying times require shared leadership and support, and we urge our state leaders to stand with us, with our students, and with our hard-working administrators, educators, and child nutrition and custodial staff because, without them, our economy and our future are at stake,\u201d said\u00a0Molly McGee Hewitt, CEO and Executive Director for the California Association of School Business Officials.<\/p>\n \u201cThis pandemic has exposed stark inequities in our schools. As we recover, we must also rebuild schools that ensure every child can learn in a safe and supportive environment \u2013 no matter the color of their skin, their abilities, where they live or where they came from,\u201d said\u00a0Max Arias, Executive Director of SEIU Local 99. \u201cThis will require funding to ensure every school is sanitized and disinfected daily, families in need continue to receive meals, and all children have access to the technology and remote learning support they need to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n The group is also calling on the administration and the legislature to identify and agree on alternate revenue sources, in addition to supporting the suspension of tax credits, to ensure K-12 schools can provide quality and safe educational environments for California\u2019s six million students.<\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n The Education Coalition,\u00a0working together to support and improve California\u2019s public schools:<\/p>\n Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) representing more than 17,000 school administrators, California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) representing more than 23,000 school business officials, California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA) representing all 58 county superintendents throughout California, California Federation of Teachers (CFT-AFL-CIO) representing nearly 120,000 education employees, California School Boards Association (CSBA) representing nearly 1,000 K-12 school districts and county offices of education throughout California, California School Employees Association (CSEA) representing more than 250,000 classified school employees, California State PTA representing 700,000 parents, teachers and students in California, California Teachers Association (CTA) representing over 310,000 educators, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) representing more than 50,000 school employees in California.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sacramento, CA…Today, the Education Coalition, comprised of the nine statewide K-12 education associations that work closely to advocate for the six million students in California\u2019s public schools and colleges, urged California\u2019s lawmakers to adopt a funding solution to the COVID-19-related budget crisis in the June budget. The group said that without adequate funding, schools cannot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":101443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-education","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/edcol.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=101442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/101443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=101442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=101442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=101442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n