Mar 12, 2008 8:08 am US/Pacific
Mayor At Rally: SF To Help Stave Off School Cuts
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / BCN) ―
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SF protesters outside the state Public Utilities Commission building.
CBS
Perched on the back of a flatbed truck parked outside a state building in downtown San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom late Tuesday afternoon told hundreds of concerned teachers that the city would step up to fight $40 million in proposed cuts to the city's public schools.
"This city is not going to sit back and wait for a solution by the state," Newsom told a vociferous crowd of teachers, parent groups, youth advocates and school district officials rallying outside the state Public Utilities Commission building at McAllister Street and Van Ness Avenue, as supportive drivers honked their approval in the background.
Newsom said the city is prepared to commit $31 million toward the $40 million that local schools are estimated to lose under a proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to slash education statewide by $4.8 billion in order solve the state's budget crisis.
"But make no mistake, we should not have to do that, Governor Schwarzenegger," Newsom chided.
Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts prompted the San Francisco Unified School District to send out notices recently announcing the elimination of 535 full-time positions, including teachers and administrators, in the next school year.
"It is wrong to lead with these cuts in a way that puts so many lives on hold," Newsom said.
Matthew Hardy, spokesman for the United Teachers of San Francisco, a union representing about 3,800 teachers, said the cuts would also increase class sizes and eliminate essential school programs.
According to school district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe, district officials still hope to avert the layoffs.
"The focus is really to our elected officials in Sacramento, that they need to balance the budget without harming children," Blythe said.
According to Blythe, California already ranks 45th in the nation in education spending, allocating about $1,900 less per student than the national average.
Newsom proclaimed San Francisco schools are "back on track," "making progress," and "performing at a higher level than any other urban district in California."
"I don't think it's right to have teachers, not worrying about what's happening in their classrooms, but worrying about their jobs," Newsom said. "It's the wrong time to be cutting education."
Addressing the crowd, school district Superintendent Carlos Garcia called the proposed education cuts "a social justice issue," and unveiled a handcrafted "pink slip" for Schwarzenegger.
"I have a little present for our governor, since he's forcing us to hand out pink slips, that it's time he got his!" Garcia told the cheering throng.
Other officials, including state Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, and Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, also offered support and vowed to fight Schwarzenegger at the state level.
"Don't worry, we'll figure this out," Newsom promised the group. "The best is yet to come."
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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