Low Turnout for School Cut Protests--Why?

Got an e-mail from the Berkeley High PTA that only 5 people had signed up to ride a bus to Sacramento on April 24 to protest education budget cuts. Five? From Berkeley High? If BHS can't turn out protesters, maybe nobody can. The body politic seems to be in a state of denial on the huge proposed budget cuts--heck, how can they cut any more from California's education budget?

Are they going to have classes of 50 in Oakland schools? No sports programs in the Central Valley? Such cuts don't seem possible--do we really care so little about our children, the state's future and keeping a few extra bucks in our bank accounts and away from the state?

The answer is obviously YES to all three.

A recent study showed that unlike prior immigrant groups, Hispanic families were not climbing the economic ladder as time passed. The primary cause: the public schools were failing them. How can you escape poverty if you don't have a good education.

I have no doubt conservative proponents of no taxes will blame the immigrants' lack of resolve and culture for the lack of progress, and note that some other groups do escape poverty, but they are only rationalizing their own selfishness.

Every young person in California deserves a safe and clean learning environment with adequate attention from well-trained and motivated teachers. The opportunities created by a good public education should not only be given to affluent suburbanites who live in communities with considerable tax revenues.