EDITORIAL//The Budget Crisis

In case one has been living under a rock for the past six months, a brief summary of the current situation here in America and the world at large is in order. Beginning in the housing market, and further spreading into the nationwide and global economies, a credit crisis and subsequent economic downturn has crippled the sense of economic security that was once enjoyed. The overall velocity of money worldwide has decreased, and this is a subject of great concern. The result of this? Lower GDP, less spending, less economic stimulation, and an overall less magnanimous situation for entrepreneurs. The toll can be seen on the face of shoppers in stores everywhere, as tighter pocketbooks force consumers to make smarter decisions with their money and stretch a weakening dollar farther than ever before.
In the particular case of California a $42 billion deficit that prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a fiscal emergency in December. Our state faced a dire situation, because a lack of a new budget agreed upon by lawmakers and signed by the governor would mean that the state would completely run out of all money, borrowed or otherwise, by late February resulting in a completely paralyzed political structure. Because the deadline was missed by lawmakers, the Governor was driven to send layout notices to 10,000 state employees and warning another 10,000 of further possible cuts. This drastic measure still failed to convince law makers to pass the budget, and the state prepared for the word. This disaster finally provoked outrage, and finally culminated in the Governor basically locking the legislators together until the budget was passed. Finally, this extreme measure resulted in a budget on February 19th, but problems still remain. These cuts will impose billions of dollars in cuts on public education, leading to larger class sizes in grades K-12, fewer programs in arts and music, and teacher layoffs. With little productive input from his fellow partisans, Schwarzenegger crafted $8.6 billion in cuts from K-12 and community college spending and a 10 percent across-the-board cut on the University of California and California State University systems, coupled with a 1 percentage point rise in the state sales tax and a doubling of the fee for vehicle licenses, just to name a few increases we face.
What does this all mean for us? School districts across the state were faced with terrible uncertainty that grew each day as lawmakers failed to pass the budget. Without this budget, schools were unsure of how grievous the budget slashes would be, and as such were forced to prepare for the worst. Here at ESHS, as in schools across the state, the school district was forced to draft a list of what programs would be cut in the event of fiscal catastrophe, preparations that included programs such as the Academic Decathlon, Journalism, French, Drama, and many others. The reaction to this list was extreme, with students astounded at what they perceived as the destruction of some of their favorite classes. This was a premature reaction, however, because this list is simply a draft of classes which could be cut. Nothing at that stage had been cut. Even with the passage of the budget, schools are as of yet unsure of their individual situations, because it has not been fully established where money will be cut as the slashes are distributed across the state. At the board meeting on the 24th, last Tuesday, drew great attention as the El Segundo Community came in support of its precious school system. Students, parents, and teachers attended, and spoke before the board in turn in defense of the perceived cut programs and the threatened firing of teachers. In particular, senior Dayne Contarsy’s speech to the board received a standing ovation for his passionate defense of the school and in particular that Academic Decathlon program he was so involved in this year. Dayne asserts that “I felt that the actions being considered by the board were preposterous and hasty. If the teachers, parents, and students all work together, surely a viable solution can be found that is not so catastrophic in terms of cuts to the rich curriculum students here at ESHS enjoy.”
The fact is that the school faces a difficult decision. The bottom line is that programs require funding to operate, and that funding will be cut. Ends will need to be met, and to ensure this the school will be forced to make concessions. The band for instance, could face a possible cut, and to ensure its survival the students were informed that they would have to raise $20,000 to make the program self-sufficient. (They embarked on a crusade of fundraising to do so, for more information about the band in particular see page 14.)
ESHS faces troubled times ahead, but it is up to the challenge. This budget crisis is but an obstacle, and if the community bands together behind the school as it has done in the past this will simply be another crisis to be weathered. To be sure, this is an arduous task and will not prove easy, but we are fortunate to be a part of a network of family, friends, and fellow Eagles that will help one another. Please show your support for our beloved school in the future as we face this developing situation.
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