Communist
6th March 2010, 02:20
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Californians Demand (http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=67ac633ebbebee156d80b 91c6fac6197): 'Educate the State'
By Seth Sandronsky
New America Media, News Report
Mar 05, 2010
SACRAMENTO, Calif.--In a day of protests against budget
cuts to California's public schools and higher
education system, an estimated 2,000 people rallied at
the state Capitol yesterday to call for more affordable
and accessible public education in an action organizers
called "Educate the State."
It was one of the largest actions among dozens that
occurred around the state. Education protesters
gathering to voice their grievances to elected
officials were reminiscent of the recent conservative
Tea Party protests against government. But these
activists were not demanding smaller government or
decreased spending. They were calling on government to
spend more money on the public educational system-even
if it means more taxes, which is anathema to the Tea
Party movement.
Indeed, Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico, D-
Fremont, who addressed the Capitol crowd, is backing a
bill, AB 656, that would raise education funds through
a new tax. It would impose a 12.5 percent tax on
California natural gas and oil producers, directing
roughly $2 billion to the state's universities and
community colleges annually.
According to Torrico, California is the only major oil-
producing state that lacks a natural gas and oil
severance tax, "giving the energy away for free," he
said, noting that Texas, the state with the biggest
gross domestic product nationally after California,
imposes such an extraction tax on energy companies.
If AB 656 goes down to defeat, Torrico said he would
try to qualify it as a ballot initiative. Of the
protestors, he said, "I think it is more of a
democratic movement of people who expect better public
services from the state of California."
Public-sector labor unions sponsoring AB 656 include
the California Faculty Association, California Teachers
Association and Service Employees International Union.
For AB 656 to become a state law, a two-thirds
supermajority of California lawmakers would have to
pass it, as the state constitution requires.
That two-thirds rule, which was enacted with
Proposition 13 in 1978, is at the heart of the state's
budget problems, said George Lakoff, linguistics
professor at UC Berkeley, who spoke after Torrico at
the Capitol rally.
Lakoff is also the author of The California Democracy
Act, a non-partisan constitutional amendment. He seeks
to insert the following 14 words to change the two-
thirds rule: "All legislative actions on revenue and
budget must be determined by a majority vote." To
qualify this proposed amendment for the November 2010
ballot, 700,000 qualified voters must sign petitions
for submission to county elections officials by early
April.
However, Democratic Party leadership has not embraced
Lakoff's proposed amendment. This is a major impediment
to his initiative being on the November ballot.
State education spending cuts would have been deeper if
not for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,
which President Barack Obama signed last year.
According to federal government statistics, the ARRA
since then restored 9 percent of K-12 education funding
in California.
Still, K-12 spending cuts of $18 billion in the past
two years have forced local districts, which rely on
state aid, to fire and furlough employees. Local
districts up and down the state are now sending pink
slip notices to teachers and staff. With a $20 billion
state budget deficit now, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is
proposing education cuts of $2.5 billion, although he
is promising to protect California's public school
students.
Meanwhile, education advocates are following Thursday's
protests with a "March for California's Future," which
begins today. Public workers will start their journey
on foot from Bakersfield in the Central Valley and plan
to arrive at the state Capitol on April 21. The
California Federation of Teachers, which represents
120,000 teachers and support personnel from early
childhood through the University of California system,
is a sponsor of the 250-mile trek.
.
Californians Demand (http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=67ac633ebbebee156d80b 91c6fac6197): 'Educate the State'
By Seth Sandronsky
New America Media, News Report
Mar 05, 2010
SACRAMENTO, Calif.--In a day of protests against budget
cuts to California's public schools and higher
education system, an estimated 2,000 people rallied at
the state Capitol yesterday to call for more affordable
and accessible public education in an action organizers
called "Educate the State."
It was one of the largest actions among dozens that
occurred around the state. Education protesters
gathering to voice their grievances to elected
officials were reminiscent of the recent conservative
Tea Party protests against government. But these
activists were not demanding smaller government or
decreased spending. They were calling on government to
spend more money on the public educational system-even
if it means more taxes, which is anathema to the Tea
Party movement.
Indeed, Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico, D-
Fremont, who addressed the Capitol crowd, is backing a
bill, AB 656, that would raise education funds through
a new tax. It would impose a 12.5 percent tax on
California natural gas and oil producers, directing
roughly $2 billion to the state's universities and
community colleges annually.
According to Torrico, California is the only major oil-
producing state that lacks a natural gas and oil
severance tax, "giving the energy away for free," he
said, noting that Texas, the state with the biggest
gross domestic product nationally after California,
imposes such an extraction tax on energy companies.
If AB 656 goes down to defeat, Torrico said he would
try to qualify it as a ballot initiative. Of the
protestors, he said, "I think it is more of a
democratic movement of people who expect better public
services from the state of California."
Public-sector labor unions sponsoring AB 656 include
the California Faculty Association, California Teachers
Association and Service Employees International Union.
For AB 656 to become a state law, a two-thirds
supermajority of California lawmakers would have to
pass it, as the state constitution requires.
That two-thirds rule, which was enacted with
Proposition 13 in 1978, is at the heart of the state's
budget problems, said George Lakoff, linguistics
professor at UC Berkeley, who spoke after Torrico at
the Capitol rally.
Lakoff is also the author of The California Democracy
Act, a non-partisan constitutional amendment. He seeks
to insert the following 14 words to change the two-
thirds rule: "All legislative actions on revenue and
budget must be determined by a majority vote." To
qualify this proposed amendment for the November 2010
ballot, 700,000 qualified voters must sign petitions
for submission to county elections officials by early
April.
However, Democratic Party leadership has not embraced
Lakoff's proposed amendment. This is a major impediment
to his initiative being on the November ballot.
State education spending cuts would have been deeper if
not for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,
which President Barack Obama signed last year.
According to federal government statistics, the ARRA
since then restored 9 percent of K-12 education funding
in California.
Still, K-12 spending cuts of $18 billion in the past
two years have forced local districts, which rely on
state aid, to fire and furlough employees. Local
districts up and down the state are now sending pink
slip notices to teachers and staff. With a $20 billion
state budget deficit now, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is
proposing education cuts of $2.5 billion, although he
is promising to protect California's public school
students.
Meanwhile, education advocates are following Thursday's
protests with a "March for California's Future," which
begins today. Public workers will start their journey
on foot from Bakersfield in the Central Valley and plan
to arrive at the state Capitol on April 21. The
California Federation of Teachers, which represents
120,000 teachers and support personnel from early
childhood through the University of California system,
is a sponsor of the 250-mile trek.
.