School 94501/94502

Our Governor made some news last week with the release of his revised budget proposal. A few people I’ve talked to in recent days seem to have been fooled by his “spin” claiming that his education budget would be good for education. In fact, this proposal would eviscerate Alameda schools.

If, after months of protests and lobbying, the best the Governor has to offer is still to cut four billion dollars from the state education budget, there can no longer be any doubt that Alameda must pass Measure H on June 3.

As a practical matter, approval of the Governor’s new budget would still mean millions in cuts for Alameda, including all of the cuts the AUSD Board approved this spring (e.g., cutting athletics, AP classes, class size reduction, etc) as well as millions more in cuts for 09-10, all with tragic results for Alameda’s kids, schools, and community.

This budget proposal should serve as a wake-up call for anyone who was holding out hope that we would see a budget miracle in Sacramento. The cavalry is not coming to save us. Measure H is our only way out.