Jerry Brown: No Friend of Teachers or Labor

[Modern School]

Led by the California Teachers Association (CTA), labor pumped millions of dollars into Jerry Brown’s war chest, helping him to defeat billionaire Meg Whitman in the race for governor of California. They were not just fighting for “anyone but Meg.” They actually believed that Brown would do great things for public education and public sector unions.

One of the first things Brown did once elected was to appoint a CTA lobbyist to the state board of education, which was really more of a favor from one 1%-er to another, than a boon to teachers or students. He also cobbled together a budget deal that promised no more cuts to K-12 education. Educators and the CTA considered this a victory and a great favor from their “pro-education” governor, despite the fact that it did nothing to restore the $21 billion that had been cut from K-12 education over the previous 3 years and even though the budget slashed more than $1.5 billion from higher education. However, even this was nothing more than a bit of political hocus pocus, predicated as it was on overly optimistic revenue projections.

Brown’s chickens are coming home to roost. The revenue projections were so far off that the state is now looking at a new $13 billion deficit. According to the Washington Post, the state is facing $2 billion in automatic cuts on the first of the year, much of that coming from K-12 and higher education. There will be another $10 billion deficit for the fiscal year starting on July 1st and again K-12 and higher education will likely take big hits.

The California State University (CSU) system will lose $100 million, news the prompted the CSU trustees quickly vote for another 9% fee increase. They did this behind closed doors, possibly in violation of state sunshine laws, to avoid disruptions by student protestors. Community college students will be forced to pay another $10 per unit, while K-12 districts will lose $1.1 billion, or $180 per child, according to the Thoughts on Public Ed website.

Modern School
http://modeducation.blogspot.com/2011/11/jerry-brown-no-friend-of-teachers-or.html

[whathehell]

1. What happened to him?...As I recall, he used to be a progressive

nicknamed "Governor Moonbeam".:shrug:

[TheWraith]

3. He's still the same guy. But for some, that's not good enough. nt

[demosincebirth]

4. Same people that blast Obama are doing the same thing to Brown. I like the

guy and I believe he is doing a good job. Some, just, don't think he is addressing their own personal complaints. What's new?

[whathehell]

5. Is he against unions?

If he is, then he's no progressive in my book.

[demosincebirth]

7. He has always been pro labor.

[tularetom]

2. He always has been very conservative when it comes to spending money

And he has never pretended to be anything else. He's a real tightwad both in his personal life and in his administration of public funds.

I wish we could find a few more bucks for edumacation here in CA, but overall Brown has turned out to be pretty much what I expected.

[NYC_SKP]

6. Oh Utter Bullshit.

I know the man, this is bullshit.

[YvonneCa]

8. Those aren't 'Brown's Chickens' that are...

...coming home to roost. He is doing everything he can to stabilize California's economy, following GOP leadership that ran everything into the rground for years. He and Tom Torlakson, Supt.of Public Instruction, are pro- union and pro-public education. If they...facing the economic mess CA is in...acted like Scott Walker in Wisconsin, people should complain.

I am grateful to have Jerry Brown be the one to unwind California's economic disaster, but...make no mistake...it was engineered by prior state and federal administrations (with a little help from Enron).