SCHOOLS PREPARE FOR STATE TAX PROPOSITION FAILURES: DECISION 2012

With just 40 days until election day, California superintendents know their budgets are on the chopping block. However, if the tax-hike, Propositions 30 and 38 pass in the November election, schools may have more in the budget and additional cuts won’t be necessary."We have one of the shortest school years in the modern global economy,” said Tom Torlakson, Superintendent of Public Instruction. “To go from 180 days down to 162 days is unthinkable but districts are actually planning to do that. The law would allow districts to take out 30 school days over the next two years.” Eureka city schools were able to dodge the five-day cut that other districts took, but may have to consider it, along with other measures, if the initiatives don’t pass. Superintendent Fred Van Vleck of Eureka City Schools says their main goal is to keep the cuts as far away to the students as possible.“Teachers, and classified staff and administration will all have to be looked at and figured out where we can make the adjustments in order to make that one and half to two million dollar cut from the budget,” said Van Vleck. Opponents of the tax hike propositions say the threat of more cuts to funding and the to the school year is simply a way to gain support for the measures.California teacher association counsel representative Ethan Heifetz says the schools need the support regardless. “Programs have been cut, libraries have been cut, music programs have been cut, all across the state,” Heifetz said. “So we are basically running our schools on a shoestring.”