Election Section

Gov. Schwarzenegger has broken his promise to protect schools and students from harmful budget cuts. His recent budget proposals undermine the education funding protections California voters supported through Proposition 98. We cannot allow this to happen. Just in the last several years, California schools have suffered more than $9.8 billion in cuts. This means that schools across the state have had to shut down, increase their class sizes, layoff many wonderful teachers and support staff They suffer from a shortage of needed librarians, counselors, nurses, custodians, and grounds keepers. Gov. Schwarzenegger is content with California’s ranking 43rd in the nation for per-pupil funding. By under funding our education he is forcing our schools to go without basic supplies and instructional materials, cut art and music programs, extracurricular activities and, after-school programs.  

As the student director of Berkeley’s Board of Education, I know firsthand how difficult it is for California school districts to stretch ever shrinking state dollars and attempt to provide quality education to our students. Here in Berkeley we are fortunate that our community has been willing, time and time again to vote for local taxes to make up for some of what state funding has failed to provide for public education, but many communities are not so fortunate. 

California voters approved Proposition 98 to protect schools and students. The governor shouldn’t ignore the voters, our students or our schools. I am calling on everyone in the state to speak out in defense of public education funding, but I am calling most specifically on students across the state. We must stand up and be counted. Our educational resources continue to be taken away from us by both state and national politicians, who continue to call themselves supporters of education.  

Gov. Schwarzenegger has sent a clear message that he does not want to invest in our education and more importantly California’s future. Our quality of life is at risk and we cannot just stand by quietly while our right to a quality education is taken from us.  

Join me in sending a clear message to Gov. Schwarzenegger that we will not stand by while he fails to honor his promise, and that we will not be satisfied with the under funding of our schools. We must remind our governor that 930,754 California juniors and seniors will be of voting age by the next election, and we will make our first vote count. 

Before then there are many other things we can do. I urge all supporters of education to write letters to the governor and your state legislators. You can also meet with local officials, school board members, city councilmembers, and mayors and ask them to join us in confronting this state wide problem. What ever you choose to do, it is critical that you do it now.  

Lily Dorman-Colby is the student director of the Berkeley Unified School District’s Board of Education.›