[BHS etree] BUSD: Gov's Proposed Budget Cuts

[bhs at idiom.com]

Here are several news items and events from the 
school district regarding the Governor's
proposed budget:

1. BFT's Human Billboard: "NO CUTS! INCREASE STATE REVENUE!"

The Berkeley Federation of Teachers heard the words "Budget Crisis" and
hit the ground running! They have developed a series of letters to
legislators and other handouts, and have been at every PTA meeting to
share these tools. Sam Frankel, BFT rep to the PTA Council (BAM teacher &
BHS parent) created this incredible "Human Billboard", which drew the
attention of everyone passing by the District Office last Friday
afternoon, and he is bringing it back this Friday from 4:30 to 5:30PM
(folks actually gathered closer to 4PM to get ready).
They were joined by staff, parents and students, as well as Superintendent
Bill Huyett and Board President John Selawsky. The energy was electric,
and I encourage folks to come out and stand behind the billboard to give
support. This is really a call to all corners of our community, and it is
critical that the Governor understands that we will not stand by for the
destruction of public education in California.

2. EVERYONE COME OUT FOR THE BFT'S MAJOR RALLY ON APRIL 9TH!

BFT RALLY: Protest the Governor's
Proposed Budget
In Support of Teachers With Layoff Notices
Wednesday April 9th, 2008
5PM
Central Administration Building
2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way

Support Your Colleagues, Your Children's Teachers
(and the future of public education in California)

3. Senator Don Perata came out stronger then ever on yesterday when he said,
"Democrats will never leave Sacramento as long as the governor intends to
cut education by even one dime."
This Tribune report shares a stand that is critical for him to take right
now, and I'm going to send him a simple email headed "Not One Dime From
Education... Thanks" to encourage him to continue to stand firm to to
protect every last dime for education, and let him know that he will not
be standing alone. Senator.Perata at sen.ca.gov
I'm receiving reports from schools of the hundreds of letters they are
sending the legislators, and it is obviously making a difference.

Not One Dime From Education....
Mark Coplan, BUSD Public Information Officer
===================================================================================================
Perata talks tough on across-the-board cuts

Governor's plan challenged as budget battles continue
By Lisa Vorderbrueggen, STAFF WRITER
Tribune
Article Created: 03/18/2008 02:40:04 AM PDT

CONCORD — Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata again threw down a state
budget challenge Monday morning.

Surrounded by about 50 parents, teachers and Democrats on the front lawn
of Glenview Middle School, a modest school in a middle-class Concord
neighborhood, Perata continued to pressure Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to
withdraw $4.4 billion in proposed education cuts from California's K-12
system.

"I'm taking off my (sun)glasses so you can look in my eyes and see if I'm
kidding," Perata told the crowd. He was referring to Republican assertions
that Democrats are going through the motions in their budget protests.
"Democrats will never leave Sacramento as long as the governor intends to
cut education by even one dime."

Perata is the face of a Democratic statewide public relations drive to
drum up outcry overthe governor's proposed 10-percent, across-the-board
budget cuts in most state programs, including schools.

Democrats say only voters can persuade Republicans in the Legislature to
stray from their "no tax hikes" vow and close the $8 billion budget
deficit with a mix of cuts and new sources of money. Democrats hold a
majority in both legislative houses but they lack the two-thirds majority
to approve a budget without Republican support.

"Can we afford to pay more taxes?" Perata said. "No. But do we have to pay
more? Yes, and we will."

Assembly Minority Leader Mike Villines, R-Fresno, said Democrats have been
unwilling to consider budget
cuts as a way to dig out of the $8 billion deficit.

"They're jumping right to taxes," he said. "The only persons tax increases
will hurt are the working people who are struggling. It's offensive to say
we won't leave Sacramento until we put taxes on peoples' back."

At Monday's event, education advocates distributed "Classrooms Come First"
cards for people to send to business leaders. California firms are
lobbying for access to trained foreign workers, Perata said, while the
state fails to educate children to fill those jobs.

"What the hell kind of sense does that make?" he asked.

Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, and state Sen. Tom Torlakson,
D-Antioch, stood with Perata and Natalie Richardson, an eighth-grader
circulating an anti-cuts petition, and several teachers who received
notices saying they could be laid off.

Teacher contracts require notification to instructors who could lose their
jobs in the next school year. Statewide, 14,000 teachers received
notifications last week, including almost 200 in the Mount Diablo Unified
School District. Glenbrook has sent such notices to four full-time
teachers and may have to lay off three assistant teachers and a campus
supervisor.

"I'm so concerned about the future of our students and our teachers and
our state," said a tearful Cherie Gan, a first-grade teacher at Ygnacio
Valley Elementary School who could be laid off.

Both parties clearly view the deficit as an opportunity to leverage
reforms, whether it's a restoration of the vehicle license fee that
Schwarzenegger axed upon his election or the changing of spending formulas
that don't always reflect the state's ec onomic picture.

While Perata pounded the podium in Concord, Schwarzenegger talked budget
reform in Fresno with Villines and Fresno Mayor Alan Autry.

The governor has said the state cannot continue to spend $400 million to
$600 million a month more than it takes in and state leaders must reform
the automatic spending formulas that outstrip revenues. The state's
biggest such formula is Proposition 98, a 1988 voter-approved measure that
guarantees a level of education funding except during financial
emergencies.

But unlike Republican legislative leaders, who say they will steadfastly
oppose tax increases, the governor has said that everything is on the
table in upcoming negotiations.

Most years, legislators respond to the governor's May budget proposal — an
updated draft of the January version — but Schwarzenegger wants to begin
talks now.

"The governor wants lawmakers to come to the table and start negotiating
now," said Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Sabrina Lockhart.

"Delaying the budget will only make our problems worse."

Lisa Vorderbrueggen covers politics. Read political news on her blog at [
http://www.ibabuzz.com/insidepolitics
]http://www.ibabuzz.com/insidepolitics. Reach her at 925-945-4773 or [
mailto:lvorderbrueggen at bayareanewsgroup.com
]lvorderbrueggen at bayareanewsgroup.com.
==========================================

Mark A. Coplan
Public Information Officer, BUSD
510-644-6320
Mark_Coplan at berkeley.k12.ca.us
Berkeley Unified School District
2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, Ca 94704-1180