Fwd: [oaklandteachers] The state budget crisis: Who will pay?

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Jack teaches in an Oakland high school and is very active in our union.
Susan

Begin forwarded message:
> ]
> --- Jack Gerson <jackrgerson@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The February 22 issue of the United Teacher (monthly newspaper of the  
> > United
> > Teachers of Los Angeles) printed an opinion piece I wrote on the state
> > budget cuts.
> > I've included the article below. You can find the United Teacher in  
> > pdf form
> > at the UTLA web site (utla.net)
> >
> > Jack
> >
> > -----------------------------------------------
> >
> > *The state budget crisis: Who will pay?*
> > *The answer: almost everyone, unless we rally to stop the cuts.*
> > By Jack Gerson
> > Last week four students from a neighboring
> > school came to my classroom to
> > pass the hat for funeral expenses for
> > a classmate who died from an asthma
> > attack. I teach in one of the poorest
> > parts of the Bay Area—East Oakland—
> > but nonetheless many of my students
> > pulled out several dollar bills. These
> > kids know they have to look out for
> > each other, because no one else will.
> > Since this incident many thoughts
> > have stuck in my mind. First: Did
> > the poor asthma victim have to die?
> > Shouldn't the health care system
> > have been there for him? Second: If
> > Schwarzenegger's requested cuts come
> > down across the board in so many different
> > vital state programs, how many
> > folks will be affected? How many innercity
> > kids will be left to fend for themselves—
> > no home, no school, no job, no
> > health care? How many state, county,
> > and municipal workers will lose their
> > jobs? How many elderly people will
> > lose their homes, denied services they
> > depend on every day, and be forced out
> > into the cold? How many families will
> > have to sleep in cars (or worse) because
> > their homes have been repossessed
> > (already, more than one in 10 homes in
> > some of our big cities—Cleveland, for
> > one—have been repossessed by banks
> > and mortgage companies)? And third:
> > Shouldn't we all be looking out for each
> > other? Shouldn't society provide what
> > people need: jobs, housing, health care,
> > retirement with dignity, a safe environment,
> > clean air to breathe and clean
> > water to drink, and quality public education?
> > Why should children, working
> > people, the poor, and the elderly have
> > to suffer because big banks made bad
> > investments?
> > Let's face it, even during supposedly
> > prosperous times—before the subprime
> > mortgage crisis broke—society did not
> > provide essential services adequately.
> > Most urban schools are overcrowded,
> > dirty, and unsafe. Health care has
> > become more and more expensive and
> > less and less accessible. The transportation
> > infrastructure is in decay—bridges
> > dangerously so. The status quo is unacceptable.
> > And now, as the economic
> > downturn deepens and people turn
> > to the state for help, Governor Arnold
> > Schwarzenegger has proposed budget
> > cuts that will sharply reduce vital
> > public programs just when they need
> > to be expanded.
> > Schwarzenegger has proposed 10
> > percent across-the-board cuts in public
> > services to close the state's $14.5 billion
> > budget gap. He wants to cut $4.8 billion
> > from education alone in 2008-2009. He
> > wants to cut $400 million in the current
> > school year—which means immediately.
> > He's proposed similar cuts to nearly all
> > other key state services.
> > These cuts would be devastating.
> > They are the opposite of what people
> > need and, indeed, the opposite of what
> > the economy needs. As unemployment
> > and home foreclosures increase, more
> > funding for public housing is needed,
> > not less. As people scramble to make
> > ends meet, more funding for public
> > health and public hospitals is needed,
> > not less. As the private sector throws
> > millions out of work, large-scale public
> > jobs programs are needed, not cuts in
> > state jobs and not cuts in assistance to
> > counties and cities.
> > A crisis in corporate profits need
> > not mean cuts in public services. It
> > is now generally acknowledged that
> > government deficit spending is needed
> > to stimulate the faltering economy.
> > California cannot run a budget deficit.
> > But the federal government can and
> > does. Washington should provide tens
> > of billions to California and other states
> > to put people to work rebuilding the
> > infrastructure and providing vital services.
> > More jobs for teachers, instructional
> > aides, and health care workers.
> > More construction jobs building decent
> > public housing, schools, bridges, and
> > new mass transit and rebuilding and
> > modernizing the entire infrastructure.
> > That's what's needed. It's not what
> > we're getting, despite the hype about
> > the Bush administration's $160 billion
> > deficit spending bill. The Bush bill,
> > which has bipartisan Congressional
> > support, does little for public programs
> > and nothing for the states: It focuses on
> > tax rebates and incentives to business.
> > But we don't have to wait for federal
> > aid to prevent the decimation
> > of California's public programs.
> > California's budget deficit can be closed
> > with zero cuts through the kinds of
> > progressive taxation measure discussed
> > by UTLA-AFT Vice President Joshua
> > Pechthalt in last month's UNITED
> > TEACHER. For example, we could
> > eliminate the deficit if we closed tax
> > loopholes to make corporations pay
> > their fair share (52 percent of profitable
> > California corporations pay no state
> > tax), reinstituted a 11 percent state
> > income tax on annual incomes over
> > $500,000 (the rate under Republican
> > governors Ronald Reagan and Pete
> > Wilson), and broke Proposition 13's
> > chokehold on the public sector with a
> > split-roll property tax (raising corporate
> > property taxes while leaving personal
> > property taxes unchanged).
> > Democrat and Republican state legislators
> > overwhelmingly agree that cuts
> > are essential, and they mainly argue
> > over how much to cut. It is important
> > for teachers and teacher unions
> > to understand: We can fight the budget
> > cuts, but not alone. We can win if
> > we reach out—to other unions, especially
> > other public sector unions; to
> > the community, especially grassroots
> > community organizations that represent
> > those hurt the most by the cuts; to
> > advocates for children and advocates
> > for the elderly. And we can reach out
> > most effectively if we clearly oppose
> > budget cuts to all vital public programs
> > and if we make clear that this state and
> > this country have the wealth to pay for
> > what's needed: federal deficit spending
> > directed to the states, combined with
> > a more progressive state tax structure
> > along the lines outlined above.
> > Whether we're talking about a massive
> > federal jobs and public works program
> > or about overhauling California's
> > tax structure, there's the same caveat: It
> > will not happen unless we organize and
> > fight for it. To get what's desperately
> > needed, unions and community groups
> > must apply maximum pressure—up
> > to and including rallies, marches, and
> > demonstrations. It will take all of us. It
> > will take a movement.
> >
> > *Jack Gerson is an Oakland teacher and
> > union activist.*
>
>
>
>        
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