Archive for category Legislation

The Governor and legislators say the state budget crisis is so bad that we have no choice but to severely cut education and health and welfare services for kids.

They are wrong!

Please e-mail your legislators.

Remind them that their obligation to all of California’s children does not stop when times get tough.

A budget is a reflection of our values. We value the future of our children and the future of California. We understand cuts to education programs will be enacted as part of a budget deficit solution. But the cuts currently being considered are far too deep and will shortchange an entire generation.

To read California State PTA President Pam Brady’s statement on the budget negotiations, click here.

Please call or e-mail your state Assembly member, state Senator and the Governor right away and deliver the following messages:

• Support a balanced budget approach that includes some additional revenues to prevent even deeper cuts to children’s education programs and services.
• Support full funding for Healthy Families, CalWORKs and Cal Grants – essential programs that support the health and well-being of children, students and families.

Find Your Legislators | Contact the Governor

The Governor and all legislators need to continue to hear directly from parents and PTAs about the devastating impact that cuts proposed in the state budget will have on children. We know many of you have been contacting legislators; it is vital to remind them that PTAs throughout the state and all parents are watching their actions closely.

California State PTA President Pam Brady released the following statement today regarding ongoing state budget deliberations in Sacramento:

“The latest budget proposals put forward by the Governor and the legislative conference committee still fail the basic test of good government: They do not reflect the values of our communities, and they do not put our children first. The magnitude of cuts included in these budget proposals will shortchange an entire generation of students. And today’s students are tomorrow’s workforce. Our state’s economic health in the future depends on the level of support we provide in our classrooms now.

“Legislative leaders who crafted the conference committee plan should be acknowledged for their efforts to take a more balanced approach than the Governor to solving the state’s current budget deficit. The conference committee plan, which did not pass out of the Senate or Assembly yesterday, would have generated some additional revenues to help mitigate cuts and to save essential programs that the Governor proposed to eliminate entirely, such as Healthy Families, CalWORKs and Cal Grants. These programs serve hundreds of thousands of children and students. It is shameful that any state leader in 2009 would even consider eliminating them, especially when our state receives matching dollars from the federal government for operating some of them.”

Education cuts still too deep

“The conference committee plan proposes about $680 million less in cuts to education programs than the Governor’s plan. The conference committee plan also took an important step by recognizing that cuts made to schools in the past two years must be repaid in future years when the economy improves. Again, we acknowledge the efforts of legislative leaders to try to cushion the impact of even deeper cuts on our schoolchildren. In this difficult budget situation, some additional cuts to education will be enacted, but the more than $5 billion in additional cuts proposed for this year and next is still too deep. These cuts come on top of more than $11 billion that has already been cut from schools.

“Children in our classrooms right now deserve better. At a time when students need more access than ever to quality programs and services so they can succeed in the future and help California thrive, we cannot pull the rug out from under them.

“A grave political climate currently exists in Sacramento: The super-majority vote needed to raise additional revenues to offset some of these deep cuts is extremely difficult to achieve. However, as the voice on behalf of nearly 1 million volunteer members and on behalf of more than 6 million children in the state, we cannot support any budget plan that drastically shortchanges children, just because it may be the ‘best that can be hoped for politically.’

California must stand for big visions and big dreams. We urge legislators and the Governor to put children first in their deliberations.

The California State PTA has nearly 1 million members throughout the state working on behalf of public schools, children and families, with the motto, “Every child, one voice.” The PTA is the nation’s oldest, largest and highest profile volunteer organization working to improve the education, health and welfare of all children and youth. The PTA also advocates at national, state and local levels for education and family issues. The PTA is nonprofit, nonsectarian and noncommercial.

For more information about the California State PTA, visit www.capta.org.

California State PTA: Now is not the time to retreat from addressing the needs of all children
May 20, 2009

SACRAMENTO – California State PTA President Pam Brady called on state leaders to redouble their efforts to steer California through its current economic crisis, following the defeat yesterday of five measures on the May 19 special election ballot.

“The defeat of these measures doesn’t change our need to find budget and funding solutions for California; it only adds new urgency to our task,” said Brady, on behalf of California State PTA’s nearly 1 million volunteer members.

“Now is not the time to retreat,” Brady said. “Our state faces an unprecedented fiscal crisis and bold, bipartisan decisions are needed. Now – more than ever – we need to ensure that children are the top priority. We can’t keep making cuts to schools – including more than $1 billion proposed in additional cuts during the last month of this current school year alone. Today’s students are tomorrow’s workforce, and our state’s economic health in the future depends on what happens in classrooms now.”

Brady said the state must adopt long-term budget reforms, including reducing the voting margin in the Legislature to 55 percent or a simple majority for passage of both the California state budget and revenue measures. California is one of only three states that requires a two-thirds vote.

“We also must dispel this notion once and for all that cutting vital programs is the only way to close the state’s deficit. Polls consistently show the public does not want cuts to schools. We need a thoughtful, balanced approach both for the short and long-term.”

Brady said PTAs will continue to play an essential role in helping local communities and schools navigate through these challenging economic times.

“PTAs help bring people together to make a positive difference for all children and families,” Brady said. “In these times, we’ll need to seize on new and creative ways to work together. And parents need to stay well-informed and active so they can assist local and state policymakers in identifying and advocating for steps that will lead toward adequate funding for education.

“An entire generation of California children is threatened unless we change way decisions are being made in Sacramento right now.”

The California State PTA has nearly 1 million members throughout the state working on behalf of public schools, children and families, with the motto, “Every child, one voice.” The PTA is the nation’s oldest, largest and highest profile volunteer organization working to improve the education, health and welfare of all children and youth. The PTA also advocates at national, state and local levels for education and family issues. The PTA is nonprofit, nonsectarian and noncommercial.

For more information about the California State PTA, visit www.capta.org.

The California State PTA today announced that its Legislation Action Committee has taken positions on five of the six ballot measures appearing on the ballot of the May 19th Special Election, and its Board of Directors has concurred with these positions. State’s official positions are as follows:

• Proposition 1A: Support. This measure creates a rainy day fund, temporarily extends tax increases, and provides a funding mechanism for Proposition 1B, which will repay $9 billion to schools.
• Proposition 1B: Support. This measures repays schools approximately $9 billion in Proposition 98 funding, beginning in 2011-12.
• Proposition 1C: Support. This measure generates $5 billion in revenues this year by securitizing and updating the state lottery; school funding would no longer be tied to lottery revenues, with no net change to overall school funding.
• Proposition 1D: Oppose. This measure transfers monies away from First 5 programs created by Proposition 10 (1998) for a period of five years, with the intent that the funds be used to protect health and human service programs for children supported by the state’s General Fund. The measure makes other programmatic changes to how First 5 funds may be spent.
• Proposition 1E: Support. This measure transfers monies away from mental health programs funded by Proposition 63 (2004) for a period of two years. The monies would go into the state General Fund to support mental health services.
• Proposition 1F: No position. This measure prohibits legislators and the Governor from receiving pay raises when the state budget is running a deficit.

In the upcoming days and weeks, State PTA will be providing members with more information about these measures and PTA’s positions. Such information will also be posted on their website and reposted on our website.