CTA launches new statewide radio campaign

The California Teachers Association has launched a statewide radio advertising campaign airing on 70 stations that targets the governor and Legislature for failing to deal with the state’s budget crisis while "our public schools sink further into disrepair."

The CTA, which represents 340,000 teachers, began the campaign Tuesday. The ads are airing on English, Spanish and Asian-language stations, the CTA said. The duration and cost of the ads was not disclosed.

"California recently sank to 47th in per-pupil funding, according to Education Week’s Quality Counts, a ranking that doesn't even take into account the most recent round of budget cuts. This is completely unacceptable," said CTA President David A. Sanchez.

According to the CTA’s analysis, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s red-ink budget proposal would cut $10.8 billion from public education over the next 18 months after 5,000 teachers have already been laid off, class sizes have increased, school libraries have closed, and other important programs have received cuts, the ad says.

"The governor's proposal also eviscerates Proposition 98, the voter-approved minimum school funding law, and would create a permanent $7 billion to $9 billion cut to education year after year," says Sanchez.

The governor’s Department of Finance said the administration is proposing a $7.71 billion cut in K-12 and community colleges for the 18-month period that ends in the middle of 2010.