Talking Points: State Budget 2008
Our
perspective
To address a projected state
budget deficit of $16 billion, Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed funding
cuts that would severely damage the quality of public education. Our students need and deserve the best
education possible in order to become active participants in a democracy and
productive workers in an evolving global economy. Instead of the Governor’s
damaging approach, CFT proposes to increase state revenues by instituting fair
tax policies.
Facts of the
Matter
State budget: $120 billion
Prop 98 guaranteed portion
of the state budget (for K-14 public education): $48 billion
State budget deficit: $16 billion over the next two years
Governor’s proposal: Cut 10% of the state budget across the board,
including $4.8 billion from education
Point 1: The proposed cuts would devastate public
education
Statewide, the governor’s proposed cuts would be equivalent
to:
- laying off more than 107,000
teachers
- cutting more than $24,000 per
classroom
- reducing per-student spending by
more than $800
- laying off 137,000 bus drivers,
janitors, food service, maintenance and other support workers
- cutting $7.76 million from each school
district, and increasing class sizes by as much as 35%.
Point 2: We have already been doing more with less for
years
According to Education Week, California ranks 46th in the nation in
K-12 per-pupil spending—$1900 less per student than the national average. New York spends 75 percent more on education than
California. California community colleges rank 45th
in the nation in per-pupil spending.
When the governor says, “We have a spending problem,” he is wrong. California is under-funding education. We spend big numbers because California has
the largest population of any state. California’s
K-12 public schools educate more than 6.3 million kids. The community colleges serve 2.5 million
adults. These are the largest systems of
public education in the country. But
one can simultaneously have a big budget and an inadequate budget. We do.
Point 3: Despite the lack of resources, we have been
making progress
Even with comparatively poor funding, public education has
been delivering results. Reading scores
are up 25% and math scores have increased by 17% over the past four years. The Governor’s proposed massive reductions to
public education spending will bring these gains to a halt, and send public
education into reverse.
Point
4: There is another way: tax fairness for increased state revenues
California is the richest state in the richest
country on earth. The problem is not that we don’t have the money. The problem is that the money is in the wrong
pockets. The revenue options below would raise an estimated $13 billion per
year, essentially solving the state's structural budget problem, with
progressive tax policies that do not adversely affect the average
Californian.
§
Reinstate the vehicle
license fee ($6 billion/year)
§
Return the top tax bracket
(on couples that make $500,000/year) back to 11% ($2.5 billion/year)
§
Re-assess non-residential
real property ($3 billion/year)
§
Enact severance tax on oil
produced in California ($1 billion per year)
§
Require that large
corporations file as corporations, not “S” partnerships ($500 to 600
million/year
§
Limit mortgage interest
deductions to $50,000 in interest ($47 million/year)
§
Close tax loophole for
luxury boats and planes exchanged in Mexico ($55 million)
Close loopholes, not schools!