The members of Plumas SOS would like to make you aware of another set of pending state budget decisions, which are expected to again impact our local schools.

On January 10 Governor Schwarzenegger released his proposed 2008-09 State Budget declaring a "fiscal emergency" and proposing massive cuts to public education, signaling the start of another difficult financial period for public education. 

The governor‚s budget proposes a 10 percent across the board cut for all General Fund departments and programs, including public education. This proposal would be the largest reduction to K-12 spending in California history, totaling cuts of over $4.4 billion dollars to schools and community colleges. What is disturbing is that it includes a suspension of the Proposition 98 minimum public education funding guarantee. The governor proposes to tackle the state‚s estimated $14 billion deficit through spending cuts alone and no tax increases. This leaves public education and other vital state services to bear the brunt and responsibility of the state‚s current fiscal crisis.

Sadly, while it is clear there are extraordinary challenges in balancing the state‚s budget, our students and schools did not create this budget problem and their progress shouldn‚t be undermined because of it.

The reason for the state fiscal emergency is insufficient tax revenue due to weakening of the state's economy, showing its first signs early in 2007. 
The governor proposes to suspend Proposition 98, the original purpose of which is to guarantee minimum funding for public education.

An analysis of expected impacts on our local schools will be forthcoming once we get feedback from the Plumas county Office of Education, hopefully in the next few days.

For more in depth discussion of the state budget proposal please click here to read our newsletter. In particular the last section "Proposed Response" maybe helpful to get the "big picture".

Please pass this along to other's concerned about the welfare of education in Plumas County and the State of California.

Plumas SOS is a group of parents and concerned citizens dedicated to maintaining and improving the quality of education in Plumas County in the face of restricted funding for our school district. We are working together in a grassroots effort to ensure the long term financial health of our children's schools.

Our Mission: To Preserve, Protect and Enhance our Children's Education in the Plumas Unified School District. We ask that you play a role, get involved, ask questions, be a part of this. This is important to our children, our community, our life in Plumas County we all hold so dear.

Our goal is to secure long term funding sources for key educational programs and activities that are in danger of being taken away or no longer exist due to financial cuts made year after year. These include providing classroom equipment and supplies, music and art programs, school counselors, well stocked libraries with librarians, computers and computer classes, science equipment, advanced college placement electives, hands-on industrial programs along with all the other activities and programs that make our schools places capable of developing and encouraging our youth towards a better tomorrow.

This is serious. We must begin a course of action as parents and community members. When, at the most recent board meeting, our board members are in tears when they have to vote to layoff so many employees and another says, "this is bad, really bad" because in all their years "it has never been this bad" that tells us WE MUST ACT NOW.

While the schools have been down this road before and have always been able to continue on, the reality is the quality of our children's education has been negatively affected each time these severe cuts are made. We lose a program here; lose funding for a class there. At some point, which we believe is now, the quality of the education is sub-standard. Our children won't be able to go to a school library or be qualified to step foot on a UC campus. 

Plumas SOS is moving forward with a plan to explore a parcel tax similar to what was accepted and renewed by the Truckee community, while working on lobbying efforts at the State and Federal levels and researching the possibility of an increase in sales tax.
We will also explore fundraising efforts large enough to make a significant difference to the quality of education.

Any funds raised would be protected by a volunteer citizens review committee in each community.

We can only meet our goals with the support of the community. If our schools close or are under par it will negatively effect property values, continued growth and close down businesses.

Our schools are so much more than just a place for our children to be educated on a daily basis. They are places where generations come together and where community identity is forged. Without good, quality schools, property values will fall and families will move, along with the businesses they support. Our communities will either fail or thrive depending upon our actions. The solution is me and you, friends and neighbors deciding to stop waiting for school handouts from our government, and to start helping ourselves. We are the only solution to this continual problem. Together we can make a difference.

Please invest in our children Invest in our schools!

If you are interested in getting involved please let us know at sos@gotsky.com and we will notify you of upcoming meetings and events.