I was at a rally in Sacramento (California’s state capitol) today with the California State PTA, who was there protesting the proposed budget cuts to public education. They have a press release detailing the event. I was one of the speakers of the rally, and thought that I’d share what I said here.

Hello, my name is Douglas Bell, and I am a junior at Aragon High School in San Mateo. I am here today–we are here today–on behalf of a minority in California: a minority that cannot vote, does not pay taxes, and most of whom could not be here today, because they are at school right now. I am referring, of course, to the students of California, who make up a quarter of this state’s population. We are here because California’s students are being expected to pay a tax, not in dollars, but a tax on our opportunities and our future.

The cuts to education that the governor has proposed are poised to devastate our already underfunded public schools. My local elementary/middle school district in San Mateo says that if these cuts are made, they will have to cut all elementary music classes, all elementary art classes, and reduce all of the school library services to half time. At my high school, teachers don’t have enough money in their department budgets to even make copies for students. Every year, our science department has to beg for parents to donate money for supplies because their department only has enough to spend $3 per student for the entire year, yet my school district is one of the richest school districts in the Bay Area. It’s estimated that these budget cuts could swell our class sizes up to 45 students–beyond the physical capacity of our classrooms.

These cuts are being proposed at a time when academic standards and expectations for students are being set higher and higher. They are being proposed at a time when our teachers are actually losing wages, once you adjust them for inflation. They are being proposed at a time when more and more schools are facing the threat of “Program Improvement” as the No Child Left Behind standards begin to escalate. California’s schools already don’t have the resources they need to meet these challenges; how can we expect them to survive these massive cuts?

We are here today because we understand that if these cuts are made, California’s students will not receive the education that we deserve in the 21st century, and that will hurt the future of this state and our country in irrevocable ways. We urge the governor and our legislators to Flunk this Budget, NOT the students of California. Thank you.

Tags: budget, California State PTA, capitol, event, governor, protest, PTA, Schwarzenegger, speech