In a short morning visit to Cal State Dominguez Hills, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, university president Mildred Garcia and myriad other education leaders convened for a public outcry over the massive cuts coming to California public education via a proposed state budget estimating a $16-billion deficit.

Here's the text press release from Garamendi's office:

"Lt. Governor John Garamendi and California education leaders representing nearly 10 million students, educators, and educational staff, met today to highlight the devastating effects of more than $5B in proposed state budget cuts for ed ucation. Standing together at a forum at CSU Dominguez Hills, representatives from California’s K-12 schools, California Community Colleges, California State University and the University of California all united in a call for protecting educational investment for California’s future.

“Not only is California at grave risk of leaving our children behind by underfunding their education and shifting to them and their families an increasing share of the cost of education,” said Lt. Governor John Garamendi, “ but if the state fails to make the critical investments in intellectual capital our future success as a global leader is at stake.”

The proposed budget cuts will decimate California’s educational system, slashing $4.8 billion from K-14 education and another $644.8 million from UC and CSU campuses. These cuts will slash $800 per K-12 student, shift a great portion of the state’s obligation to fund higher education to students and families, and could mean the doors of our colleges are closed to tens of thousands of students who have earned the right to higher education. At a time when our state faces more challenges than ever -- an increasingly complex world, an increasingly competitive global economy, and an environment increasingly threatened by global climate change – California cannot afford to cut back.

“The governor’s budget proposal is a giant step backward for public education at every level in California—preschool through higher education,” said David Sanchez, president of the 340,000-member California Teachers Association. “Cuts of this magnitude are equivalent to laying off 107,000 teachers, or increasing the number of students in every classroom by up to 35 percent in K-12. They mean faculty layoffs, a 10 percent hike in student fees—their sixth in the last seven years— and reductions in course offerings in our colleges and universities. Our students didn’t create this budget crisis, and their education shouldn’t be ransomed to solve it.”

"The governor's proposed suspension of the Proposition 98 minimum funding guarantee for K-12 education will make achieving rigorous state standards even more difficult, force an exodus of talented teachers and support staff, and put additional pressure on an infrastructure that is already strained,” said Brian Tanguay, California School Employees Association Chapter 37 President.

“California will not speed ahead economically and socially if we close the doors on worthy students and diminish the quality of higher education once students graduate high school,” said Scott Lay, President and CEO of the Community College League of California.