Improving Education/Provide Schools More Flexiblity in Spending Education Aid for Teachers

By Mark Gonzaga

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had decided to balance the state budget on the backs of the poor. Now the Governor claims he will be repaying schools back the money owed, until he is re-elected and then he will once again go back on his word as he has consistently done in the past.

In this era of budget cutting, the state's huge prison system will cut almost none of its $6.1 billion budget yet the reality is that a lack of education leads directly to prisons and to body bags in Iraqi Oilfields. It is time to spend our money on education not prisons!

Schools have lost a significant part of their budget through the governor's budget cuts and they will suffer further cuts in the future if Governor Schwarzenagger is re-elected. The Governor wants to borrow further for education and place California further in debt for our children to eventually pay back. California has fallen to number 48 in education in our nation. How much longer can we and our children suffer from false promises made by the Governor merely so he can be re-elected and then once again go back on his word? Isn't our California deficit bad enough? Education is a priority! I intend to fight for our fair share by demanding the Governor fulfull his original campaign promise to ask the Federal Government to give California back some of the money we send to Washington.