Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/31273
8A – Daily News – Tuesday, May 10, 2011 Calif. teachers begin week of budget protests SACRAMENTO AP) — Hundreds of California teach- ers marched in downtown San Francisco Monday and ral- lied at the state Capitol to launch a week of protests over the threat of deep budget cuts to public education. Demonstrations and teach-ins involving thousands of teachers were planned across the state as schools face the prospect of mass layoffs, program cuts and shorter school years. The protests will culminate Friday with a sit-in at the state Capitol. Organizers also tried to counter attacks on public employee benefits, saying pensions were not the cause of the state’s fiscal problems. David Sanchez, president of the 325,000-member Cali- fornia Teachers Association, kicked off the protest in Sacra- mento by saying schools already are suffering from previous cuts that have devastated art, music and physical education programs. To avoid further cutbacks, teachers want the Legislature to extend temporary increases to the sales, personal income and vehicle taxes that will expire by June 30. ‘‘This week is not business as usual,’’ Sanchez said. ‘‘Our legislators need to do their job and pass the tax extensions so we can continue to function.’’ About 100 school personnel gathered at 5:30 a.m. in San Francisco and marched to school district headquarters, with 60 boarding a chartered bus to Sacramento, where they joined other protesters to lobby state lawmakers. About 250 people, many wearing light blue T-shirts read- ing ‘‘State Of Emergency,’’ gathered for an interfaith prayer service and a march around the Capitol. In addition, the California Federation of Teachers began running a radio ad in selected areas, singling out Republican state senators who oppose extending the tax increases. The ad will run in the districts of senators Tony Strickland of Thousand Oaks, Anthony Cannella of Ceres, and Tom Berryhill of Modesto. ‘‘I think it’s time to get mad as hell and say enough. This is a disgrace, a national disgrace,’’ San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Carlos Garcia Strickland welcomed the ads, saying the effort prompts people to call his office so he can explain that one of his goals is maximizing classroom dollars by cutting education bureaucracy and other government waste. He said Republicans intend to release their own budget plan soon that would avoid more cuts to education and law enforcement by using $2.5 billion to $5 billion in projected revenue growth as the state economy improves. The unveiling of the proposal would roughly coincide with the expected May 16 release of Gov. Jerry Brown’s updated budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Brown favors a special election so California voters can decide how to close the state’s remaining $15.4 billion deficit ‘‘California is not in this position because we’re taxed too little,“ Strickland said. ”We’re in this position because we’re taxed too much. I understand teachers’ concern, because 50 cents of each dollar we spend in Sacramento is going to edu- cation, but not much of it is getting to the classroom.’’ This week’s rallies mark an escalation by the California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, which waited while Brown tried to negotiate a deal with Republicans to put his tax proposal before voters. Since that effort failed, the teachers are now delivering their message directly. Without a renewal of the tax increases, Brown and Democratic lawmakers warn the state will be forced to make deep cuts that affect the lives of nearly every Californian and further erode the quality of the public school system. ‘‘I think it’s time to get mad as hell and say enough. This is a disgrace, a national disgrace,’’ San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Carlos Garcia said while addressing the San Francisco rally. Garcia also said California should consider revising Proposition 13, the 1978 voter initiative that rolled back and capped property tax increases, so more tax revenue can be generated from commercial properties. The federation also supports a bill by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D- Berkeley, that would increase the income tax rate from 9.3 percent to 10.3 percent on taxable income of $500,000 and up, union spokesman Steve Hopcraft said. A recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that six in 10 likely voters favored raising income taxes on top earners to fund education. In Sacramento, Kristina Hohmann, an education student at California State University, Fullerton, said she was wor- ried about entering a profession that is ‘‘underfunded and criticized.’’ The California Teachers Association’s action plan for the week said 300 volunteers wearing shirts saying, “I will be a lay-off!” will rally outside the office of Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway, R-Tulare. Nine freeway billboards already have gone up statewide using the campaign’s tagline: “State of Emergency.” School districts throughout California have issued about 20,000 pink slips to teachers and other school employees. Six in every 10 school districts already have reduced the number of school days in the academic year since the Leg- islature lifted a 180-day limit. Capitol activists rally for higher taxes on rich SACRAMENTO (AP) — Protesters at California’s state Capitol on Monday chant- ed for social justice, higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations and an end to war, but they won’t be allowed to occupy the building, police said. About 75 demonstrators representing dozens of groups gathered on the sidewalks Crafter’s Boutique Tues.-Fri. 11-5 • Sat 11-3 COME & SHOP 50 CRAFTERS IN 1 SHOP! Or Rent a Space to Sell Your Crafts Gifts for family & friends Plenty of parking on Pine Street 650 Main St., Red Bluff 530 528-2723 M-F 6am-2pm* west of the Capitol starting just before noon. They said they want to occupy the building much like protesters did earlier this year in Wisconsin after Republicans took steps to end many collective bargaining rights, but their goals may change depend- ing on how many people arrive as the day goes on. 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