A few budget shortfall links from today's papers and over the weekend:
Starting with this lede from an editorial in the Sunday Los Angeles Times:
For California's schools, the question of the state budget shortfall comes down to this: Will they have an utterly unthinkable year, or just a horrible year?
The editorial calls for a moratorium on No Child Left Behind sanctions, which cost school districts money, as well as a lifting of the class-size limit from 20 (for K-third grade classes) tp 24 or 25. The ed board also recommends the state free up categorical funding, which usually goes only to specific programs.
The ed board also on Sunday looked at the irony of Measure Q's forthcoming riches -- $7 billion limited largely to construction and physical improvements -- in a year of budget crisis that may even force school closures. The editorial calls for the district to "use money more judiciously" and "focus on its core mission at a time when it may not be able to afford much else."
In an op-ed oday, UCLA professor Saree Makdisi writes, "There is nothing left to pare" of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to cut education funding in an effort to close a gaping budget gap.
Schwarzenegger's plan would slash $2 billion in K-12 education funding, $330 million from community colleges, $66 million from Cal State schools, and $66 million from the UCs.
"To under-fund our educational system is to jeopardize our position in the global economy," Makdisi argues.
Also today, the Times takes a look at the budget issues facing Los Angeles Unified.
On Sunday, the Breeze ran my (entirely un-budget-related) story about the push for school uniforms in LAUSD.
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