A sea of pink recently swept over schools throughout Southern California. Teachers — male and female — came to work wearing all shades of pink. This was definitely a statement, with the pink intended to call attention to the pink slips, or notices of possible layoffs, that teachers have been receiving all through California.
The sea of pink came on March 13th — a Friday the 13th, by the way. That's when teachers stood up for themselves and wore pink in a message of solidarity against the educational downturn. March 13th marked the deadline for school districts to give notice to teachers that their jobs could be cut.
On a local level, Inglewood Teacher's Association President Aisha Blanchard-Young had this to say regarding the overflow of pink: "When educators stand for children in such a public, grandiose manner it gives us an opportunity to remind the public that children are our future and our number one priority."
Could California's Public Schools withstand the loss of thousands of teachers?
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to think so. Our public elementary, junior high and high schools, and our community colleges, are facing budget cuts of more than $11-billion. This could also mean that thousands of teachers would get laid off and some classrooms would swell to 40 or more students Art, music, sports and extra-curricular activities could face severe cutbacks, too.
California Teacher Association (CTA) President David A. Sanchez recently said that "the governor's catastrophic cuts will create an educational recession that will deny students the education they need to be successful."
Representatives of CTA argue that these cuts are due to Gov. Schwarzenegger's illegally abusing the tenets of Proposition 98, the states school funding law. The legislature has to send a balanced budget proposal to the governor by June 15, 2009. This would be for the 2009-10 year. Schwarzenegger must respond by June 30th if he approves the measures as law. Pro-education groups are spearheading a resolution for California Schools that could possibly offset our states educational budget crisis.
C. Hartley-Bonar is a writer for Carib Press.
Photos for collage from http://www.standupforschools.org/
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