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Statement from the Oakland Unified School District Regarding the Proposed Budget Cuts:

HELP US FIGHT SCHOOL FUNDING CUTS PROPOSED BY THE GOVERNOR!

Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed a $4.8 billion budget cut for California’s schools, cuts that would severely damage the quality of education in our state, forcing school districts to lay off teachers and other educators in already overcrowded classrooms while slashing programs that are critical to student achievement.

Statewide, the Governor’s $4.8 billion budget cut is equivalent to:

• Reducing spending by $800-per-student
• Laying off more than 107,000 teachers
• Cutting more than $24,000 per classroom
• Laying off over 137,000 bus drivers, janitors, food service workers, maintenance workers and other education support professionals
• Increasing class sizes statewide by as much as 35%

In Oakland Unified, the District would have to trim $1.1 million by March 15 to meet the Governor’s budget demands and an additional $22 million from the budget for the 2008-09 school year. This would significantly reduce funding for:

• Class size reduction
• Textbooks and other instructional materials
• School and library improvement
• Child nutrition programs
• Before and after school programs
• Home-to-school transportation
• Childhood development programs
• Adult and special education
• Cost of living adjustments

District Position:
The gutting of public education, which hits cash-strapped districts like Oakland Unified the hardest, is unacceptable. For the future of our students, and the well-being of our communities, we must fight to keep the proposed budget cuts from becoming law.

Read OUSD’s full set of briefing materials [PDF]

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