When Meeting Reporters is the Good Part of the Day …
When Darrell Steinberg meets this morning with reporters to talk about the state budget, it might be the first time ever that a legislative leader was relieved to take questions from the press.
As tough as the questions may get, it’s still got to be a relief from the pasting the state Senate’s Democratic leader is taking from his erstwhile allies.
With the state facing a $24.3 billion hole in next year’s budget, Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass face the no-fun-at-all job of convincing Democrats that the only way to keep the state out of the fiscal dumper is by slashing the very programs the party has fought for for years.
So far, it hasn’t gone well.
Let Schools Sell Old Books to Ensure Excellence in Education
Our local libraries often hold book sales to generate funds for new books, or other needed materials or supplies. It makes sense: Sell old or out of date resources and use those funds to purchase new items. A no-brainer.
Many school districts in California have stacks of unneeded, old and obsolete instructional materials in warehouses which if resold could generate new funds for our schools.
In these tough times of shrinking school budgets that threaten to hurt our children’s education, why don’t we let schools gather up surplus or out of date books and other instructional materials and sell them?
Unfortunately, state law has many restrictions on re-selling materials, making it almost impossible for schools to generate additional revenue from these sales.
California, take a breath
California is broke. The poor are worried about losing benefits. California companies don’t want to pay more taxes. Someone has to lose for the other to win, right?
Wrong.
The media likes a good fight, and the bell has rung in Sacramento for a heavyweight bout. In this corner, greedy businesses get tax breaks and in that corner the poorest and most vulnerable citizens are denied healthcare. But the question is: Will the policy choices at the end of this cage match make us a better and more successful state?
The other night, I heard a father tell his screaming, red-faced child: "Take a breath, buddy, take a breath." We have become that child. Let’s take a breath.