Almost two-thirds of the respondents to an Argus-Courier online poll
Feb. 5, 2009 say that the impact of school budget cuts will be much
greater this year due to the state’s budget situation.

Some 64.3 percent said the impact will be much greater, while 31 percent said it will be somewhat greater.
Asked if the quality of education in local schools will suffer as a result of school budget cuts, 45.2 percent said it will suffer very much, while 19 percent said it will suffer somewhat.
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Here are some of the comments by those who responded to the survey:
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“Of course, the quality of education will suffer. Teachers are worried about layoffs, pay cuts, and reductions in benefits. How does the state expect to draw or retain quality professionals if they won’t pay them adequately?”
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“Money is one thing ” loss of key people is another. Good principals move on to other districts. Morale is poor in the ranks.”
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“California is 49th in per student spending. Ridiculous! Our schools and teachers need more money and supplies, not less! Why not bail out our schools instead of the big execs?”
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“Schools in the U.S. have been plagued by budget cuts for too long and our youth is suffering. Our government needs to put children first!”
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“Maybe now there can be some consolidation of school districts. And maybe now the CTA can put some of their money back into the schools instead of running those senseless ads on radio.”
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“The children of today are our future. We need to be investing in their education for their future as well as ours!”
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“More money does not equal better education. Just adding money is not the solution.”
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“Why not shorten the school year by a week instead of laying teachers off? It’s been done elsewhere. The academic standards have been covered by then anyway. The last week of school is fun, but maybe this year should be different.”
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“If we don’t want to cut non-critical instructional programs during lean budget years, we should be prepared to support our schools with local funds. I’d much rather be taxed at the local level than the state or federal level.”
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“These cuts are disheartening as California is already ranked near the bottom statewide for funding per student. This is our future at stake.”
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“School districts need to re-think their budgets. Where are the expenses, salaries of administrators or teachers? Teachers are providing the education. They are going to be asked to do more, like the teachers of 20 years ago. Parents are going to need to volunteer and provide assistance in yard duty and janitorial needs at the schools.”
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“Schools in Petaluma and in the whole state have suffered from inadequate funding for about three decades. California has dropped from having one of the best educational systems in the country to having one of the worst.”
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“A good thing would be to merge the many school districts. That will cut a huge amount of waste. The schools need to take a hint from private industry by cutting management.”
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“There is no way to absorb these cuts. We are killing our educational system, and will soon be the worst in the country at per capita funding. Great administrators and teachers are already overburdened with class sizes and understaffing. Government is consistently thinking short term about these effects. They are mortgaging the future of our country, our state, and, most importantly, our children. The real costs will be seen when an undereducated work force hits the streets and demands even greater support from the community. We, as citizens, can’t let this happen.”
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“There are too many school districts. As a cost saving, districts might have to combine. Teachers are stretched already, but 20 years ago the teachers did yard duty and cleaned their classrooms and had 30-plus students. Was the education worse because of this?”
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“Why are there so many high-paid administrative jobs?”
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“Why are the people in government cutting funds to our schools and children while their children are in private schools and unaffected by the budget cuts. It bothers me when people whose job can dictate cuts in funding to others who depend so much on the funding and their children can be greatly affected by those cuts in budget, yet the ones doing the cutting are not affected, nor are their children. Don’t they realize that our children are our future? These cuts affect more than just cut money out of a budget, they affect the lives of our children and our communities and throughout the world.”
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“Our schools should be top priority when it comes to budgeting. Schools have been suffering money problems for decades and the affects are far-reaching.”