Spending Cuts in Education

The message is clear to the parents of students in the California school system--books and reading are not important (get rid of librarians and remedial reading teachers); science is not important (get rid of science in the lower grades--even though we rank close to the bottom worldwide in importance of science in the curriculum); counselors are not important.

Administrators and sports are what are important in our schools. We do not see any major budget cuts in school administrators or in sports. California’s school districts are too administration-heavy--overstaffed. School districts and school boards perpetuate costly administrative bureaucracies. They and our politicians (Gov. Pete Wilson in particular) are more concerned about the image they project than what happens to our K-12 educational system.

Why is it that we can spend over $50 billion on a war with a Third World power? Why spend billions on sports, parades and wars--and not education?

The priorities and facts concerning California’s K-12 public schools are shocking. California has the world’s sixth largest economy; yet California ranks 22nd out of 50 in per capita spending on K-12 public education; California ranks 50th in the nation in class size, and California falls below the national average in state and local tax monies devoted to education.

Will the indifference to the importance of education and the current drastic budget cuts in education wake up our citizenry? Our children are our future. America’s growth, strength and economic standing in the world depend upon strong, efficient public schools.

PAMELA D. SMITH & JAMES R. SMITH, Dana Point