Schools Pack In More Kids to Cope With Cuts

Many California students returning to school this week are being squeezed into over-crowded classrooms. According to the Sacramento Bee, the state is seeing the largest average class sizes in over a decade. The change is part of a new trend where schools are requesting class-size increases, without having to pay stiff penalties, in order to save money.

Large numbers of school districts are bombarding the state with requests to expand classes beyond the legal limits.

The California Board of Education, which reviews class-size waiver requests, gave out 16 exemptions in an 11-month period ending in July. Since then, the board heard 16 more waiver requests at its board meeting Aug. 2 and expects another 16 in September, said Judy Pinegar, manager of the waiver office at the California Department of Education.

The state had no requests for class size increases between 1999 and 2009.

"It's the hot item right now," Pinegar said. "I'm expecting almost every district in the state to request one."

The state allows an average of 31 students in kindergarten, 30 in first through third grade and 29.9 in fourth through eighth grade.

Continue reading at SacBee.com…

Unemployment stuck at 12.6% in California

Even though the state of California added 14,200 jobs in April, the unemployment rate didn’t budge much – It continues to be 12.6 percent. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, California’s rate is the third highest in the nation, right behind Michigan coming in at 14 percent and Nevada’s 13.7 percent. We’ve heard whispers of the economy improving, however, with unemployment numbers like these, as the saying goes, proof is in the pudding!

But, I am all about hope, and the good news is that California payrolls did grow by a total of 56,000 this year and hopefully the new HIRE ACT tax breaks will get employers more hiring again. I want to know what you think; do you believe California’s unemployment rate is going to fall by the end of summer? Tell me your thoughts on Facebook or on my Twitter at www.twitter.com/ronideutch.

Californians Divided Over Paying Higher Taxes to Prevent Public Education Cuts

The Public Policy Institute of California conducted a poll earlier this week to gauge how taxpayers in the state felt about paying higher taxes to prevent major cuts to public education. According to the California Independent Voter Network although Californians are concerned about cuts to education, they remain wary of paying higher taxes to fund what is needed to prevent those cuts. Check out a section of their analysis of the pool below.

Californians today are more likely to believe that funding for their local schools is inadequate, and parents who send their children to public schools believe that the state budget cuts have had a big effect on their children's schools. Among ethnic groups, Blacks and Whites are far more likely to believe that the quality of education is a problem as compared to Asians and Hispanics. Blacks and Hispanics are much more likely than Whites to be worried about the quality of education.

Californians also want education to be protected from spending cuts and believe gubernatorial candidates’ positions on education are important. Despite this all of these concerns, Californians are split on whether to pay higher taxes to restore the cuts.

Here are some highlights from the poll:

62 percent believe there is not enough state funding going to their public schools, a 12 point increase since April 2009, while 26 percent believe there is just enough, 6 percent more than enough.

Continue reading at CAIVN.org…

California Lawmakers Approve Tax Breaks to Create Jobs

On Monday, lawmakers in California sent Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger two job creation bills. The first piece of legislation would extend the $10,000 homebuyer's tax credit through the end of while the second would provide tax break to the green-technology industry.

According to Business Week, the Senate and Assembly passed the bills with bipartisan support in hopes of promoting housing construction and making California more inviting to businesses involved in developing alternative energy.

"Today, the Legislature approved two important job creation measures that put Californians back to work," Assembly Speaker John Perez said in a statement after the votes were completed.

Passage of the legislation was intended to buy favor with Schwarzenegger in hopes that he would sign a budget bill Democrats sent to him earlier this month. That bill involves a complicated swap of the state sales tax on gasoline for a gasoline excise tax that would send more money to the cash-starved general fund.

The governor signed that bill late Monday and indicated he would sign the two tax-break bills later.

Continue reading at Business Week.com…