No More Cuts Say Loma Linda, Redlands Teachers

They came by bus and by carpool and in pairs and in groups with one singular message: No more cuts.

Roughly 500 teachers, police officers, firefighters, parents and students rallied Friday at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino as part the “State of Emergency” campaign.

The rally was presented by the California Teachers Organization and organized locally. It was one of six State of Emergency events held throughout the state Friday. The campaign is an effort to get the California Legislature to avoid cutting funding for schools and for police and fire services.

The state has already cut $12 billion from state programs, including huge cuts to colleges and health care for children, organizers said. School class sizes are averaging 35 students, even in some of the lower grades; vital student programs have been eliminated; more than 40,000 education jobs have been lost, they said.

“California citizens, we need to speak up and stand up for your rights,” Rebecca Harper, with the San Bernardino Teacher’s Association told a cheering crowd. “We need to tell the state legislators to do the right thing and pass a balanced budget, but one that does not makes deeper cuts to public schools and public services. Instead, pass one that extends the current taxes. The citizens of California deserve it.”

Representatives from several school districts, including Redlands Unified, which serves Loma Linda, came out. They waved signs and chanted, “We are one,” “Cuts Hurt Kids,” and “No more cuts.”

Some of the signs addressed the much-debated temporary sales, personal income and vehicle taxes put in place two years ago that are set to expire June 30. The revenue was meant to alleviate the ongoing deficit. Among the services the tax money has saved from major slashing is police and emergency services and education. Governor Jerry Brown is pushing to put a five-year extension on a ballot.

“No one is dealing with the huge budget cuts to public education that we are in California,” said Paula Monroe, with the Redlands Education Support Personnel and member the National Education Association’s executive committee. She pointed out that Redlands Unified School teachers and support personnel have not gotten raises in more than three years.

“Our health care costs continue to increase,” Monroe told the crowd. “Our membership is going down because of layoffs. And we’re all carrying more of the workload because of the members we’ve lost.”

Monroe and three other local representatives travel to Sacramento four times a year to meet with the NEA Board of Directors and discuss policy.

“I was in Sacramento yesterday and a lot of what is being proposed by the Republican legislators really won’t be sustainable,” she said. “They’re short term fixes. We really need them to take a look at education funding as a whole and look at a long-term fix.”

James Ramos, member of the San Bernardino Community College Board of Trustees, attended the event at the Orange Show and spoke to the crowd. He agrees the tax extensions need to be done, but said that it is not the fix.

“That means a refocus in the state legislature to make sure that education is on top of that focus, on top of their list,” Ramos said.