By Adam Robak
Editor-in-Chief
These are trying times to be a student in California. Last Monday, new California Governor Jerry Brown proposed a budget that slashed numerous programs, most notably 20 percent of the funding for California’s already suffering universities.
Luckily, primary and secondary schools were largely spared from these cuts due to their rapidly declining funding. However, unless California’s taxes increase over the next five years, high schools and primary schools across the state will have their funds cut enormously.
>Because of these destructive cuts to other state programs and the ensuing promise of even worse ones in the future, it is evident that we, Mira Costa students, need to take full advantage of the opportunities that we still have.
Despite our criticisms here at La Vista about administrative and program flaws throughout the years, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District provides its students with opportunities that are unparalleled for most California students.
In the MBUSD, we are given a district that has the third best API in California and offers nationally-ranked programs in everything from Model United Nations to sports teams.
Because of this, through all of these fiscal disasters, it is necessary to gain some perspective on our state’s education situation. In the MBUSD, we have been facing cuts for the past two years that have resulted in less teachers’ units and vanishing programs.
But the lone bright spot is that our situation could be much, much worse. Yes, any cuts to the district’s programs are never good. However, because of our high testing scores and the contributions of organizations like the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation, we have been saved from the brunt of any drastic cuts. Without the financial contributions from the MBEF, our district would have to cut over $2 million from its budget.
In comparison, most districts around the state don’t have fundraising education fundations and therefore have limited opportunities to succeed.
In fact, a few months ago the Los Angeles Unified School District, in addition to contemplating program cuts, considered cutting Fridays as a school day because it was simply too expensive.
If the new California leadership does not begin to prioritize education in a meaningful way, public schools will be left to economically fend for themselves, further lowering California’s abominable, next-to-last state education rankings.
It is tempting toward the end of my four years at Mira Costa to bemoan the lost program opportunities because due to state-wide budget cuts.
Yet, it is far more satisfying and realistic to be appreciative for the relatively stable education we receive at Mira Costa, and hope that other students around the state will also have a chance to benefit from a similar educational environment.
With the new leadership in Sacramento, I can only hope for future students and myself, as a prospective beneficiary of California’s university system, that education reform will be a top priority.
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