Oppose cuts to education!

Please take a few minutes out of your busy life to contact your legislators. We must act now to help prevent massive reductions in funding to public education and social services.

Please contact your legislators now with the message below.

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Subject:

Dear Legislator,

(Edit Letter Below)

I oppose massive cuts to public education and social services.  I opposed the propositions last month because they would have permanently harmed education and other public services provided by the state.  I strongly disagree that the vote was a referendum against taxes.  It is false to say the failure of these propositions created the current deficit.  The deficit is now $24 billion; the propositions would only have brought $6 billion in immediate revenue to the state.

Clearly something else is the problem. And it isn't "overspending."  California is the richest state in the richest nation in the world but ranks 47th in per pupil spending on public schools.

The solution to this budget crisis is not to slash our services and burn our future, but to re-evaluate our revenue policy. There are reasonable alternatives to the savage cuts being proposed by the governor.  I believe in a fair and progressive state tax policy.   In 1993 the highest income tax bracket in CA was 11% of income; today it is 9.3%. The very rich can afford to return to the higher tax bracket.  We must act now to make a fair adjustment to taxes of the richest one per cent of the population (people who make more than $250,000 per year).

We must also close corporate tax loopholes. As just one example, California is the only state that does not tax oil when it is taken from the ground, therefore allowing for the depletion of our resources without paying for the infrastructure of our state. By these means we could raise at least $12 billion per year.

Drastically raising class size, eliminating summer school, and shortening the school year will cause irreparable harm to students and to California for a full generation.  Cutting social services like MediCal, Healthy Families, and retiree health care is cruel and contrary to the aims of a civilized society. It will also cause billions of dollars to be lost from the federal stimulus program.  As my legislator, you must hold the line, and tell the governor and the public that destroying our education system and social services is not the proper solution to the budget crisis.  The only humane and intelligent solution is a fair tax policy.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

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