Feb 28, 2008 12:28 am US/Pacific
$5M In Cuts Prompt Layoffs At Pittsburg Schools
PITTSBURG (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
The Pittsburg Unified School District board made preliminary decisions Wednesday night about what programs to cut and which employees to let go should the state Legislature approve Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts in education funding.
In a packed meeting at City Hall, the district voted to lay off 72 teachers, vice principals, counselors and custodians to cover a multi-million dollar shortfall.
Schwarzenegger's budget proposes to cut 10.9 percent from education spending for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. That translates into a $5.2 million reduction in Pittsburg schools, Superintendent Barbara Wilson said in a prepared statement.
"The impact on the programs that we offer our children will be severe. Now more than ever, with higher expectations for achievement and the need for advanced skills in our workforce, it is important that the state invest in our children," Wilson said.
According to a statement released by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, California schools rank 46th in the nation in per-pupil funding.
"Cutting even further into education programs serving our diverse and challenging student population is both unfair and unwise," O'Connell said in a statement issued last week expressing his opposition to the proposed cuts.
If the proposed cuts are approved, the state will rank dead last in per-pupil funding, Wilson said.
As they prepare for the possible cuts, the board is urging Pittsburg residents to call and write their local legislators, Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, and Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, asking them not to approve the proposed budget.
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