California teachers fed up with cuts

Teachers throughout California rallied Thursday to send a message to Sacramento. Stop the cuts.

Orland Unified School District teachers set up tables, carried signs and offered information and petitions for people wanting state legislators to re-think cutting any more money from education budgets. The demonstrations were staggered as each school let out.

In Willows, teachers began their rally at 7 a.m.

Willows Teacher Association President Shelley Amaro said Stand Up for Schools carried more than one message.

"It's important to act on a local level and get people involved," she said. "We want people to begin thinking about protecting education."

Hoping the event "planted a seed," Amaro suggested people support pro-education candidates in the next election.

Moreover, she said she hopes people will "get the thought in mind, 'what can I do with my vote, with my body with my wallet?'"

Amaro noted the it was important to participate in something positive, for a change.

"There's been so much negative lately," she said.

Gale Hornsby, a second-grade teacher at Mill Street, said the idea for the rally started when college students formed a coalition with the California Teachers Association.

Also backing the demonstration was the state Board of Administrators and the state School Board Association. Locally, Orland's Superintendent Chris von Kleist was joined by all school principals in supporting the teachers.

Cathy Howie emphasized the problem comes from Sacramento.

"As the years have gone by, we knew what was coming and our district didn't wait till the end" to do something about it, she said.

"Education is vastly important. We want California to understand that education should be a top priority to legislators." added Susan Squires-McNally, who teaches at C.K. Price Middle School.

Her colleague, Rita Nutsch, added that "students deserve an education."

California ranks 46th out the 50 states in terms of spending on education, according to materials

being handed out at C.K. Price.

Teachers at all levels said the biggest impact budget cuts have had on education relates to class sizes.

For second-grade teacher Deborah Burfeind that means "less individual attention, especially for children who need extra help."

Even small group work cannot happen now because there are too many students, she said.

"We're doing more full-class teaching," Howie said.

Teachers also have more work outside class.

Squires-McNally suggested larger student-to-teacher ratios combined with salary cuts are a "double whammy." "We have more work and less pay," she said.

In addition to class sizes and added workloads, teachers — and their students — are concerned about program cuts.

Nutsch and Squires-McNally said computer classes at C.K. Price, for example, have been cut from four to two, including eliminating the class for sixth graders. Their concern that if students are not computer literate, they will have much harder time as they go through the higher grades, into college and into the working world, they said.

Students Mireya Lopez, 13, and Brenda Bravo, 14, also expressed concern about program cuts and the affect on their chances to succeed.

Bravo said, "we want more support," noting the fewer elective courses are offered since budget cuts began.

Lopez, who wants to the first person in her family to go to college, added that "we need more money to us get what we need to prepare us more in life, for example technology."

"We need it so we can represent our school and make them proud of us," she said.

As parents gathered around the tables to sign the petitions and take blank pages pre-addressed to state Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, and Assemblyman Jim Nelson, R-Gerber, they were asked to send their thoughts to the decision-makers in Sacramento.

"I'd rather see any funding to schools. I'm tired of seeing funding going to jails and crazy nonsense stuff. … Schools should come first," said Valerie Schnoor, whose son is in first grade at Mill Street Elementary.

"People complain about children being obese, but they want to cut out time for them to be physical," she added, referring to potential cuts in formal physical education classes.

For Luz Sanchez, who has children at Fairview Elementary, C.K. Price and Orland High the rally was important "because if they cut the funds, kids aren't going to have enough to learn."

The impact of budget cuts goes a little deeper at Orland's alternative schools.

Joy Padden at North Valley Continuation School said budget cuts have left students without books, and cutbacks in course offerings at Butte College are keeping high school students from making up credits so they can graduate on time.

Like many teachers, Padden purchases classroom supplies with her own money and does the best she can to supplement her courses with material from the Internet.

"I'm trying everything I can to help these kids make it through," she said.