State officials: Save education

The following is a letter I sent to our state representatives

regarding the situation with our local teachers.

I am writing to you from my family’s home in Burbank, which is

also where my wife and I work.

The pending state budget cuts have forced the city’s school board

to give more than 250 pink slips to our community’s teachers. This

decision is a tragic one and potentially damaging not only for my

family, but also the entire community.

My wife is one of the Burbank teachers who is marked for

termination. She is a second-grade teacher who holds a master’s

degree in education, and is highly regarded by her principal,

colleagues, parents and students.

Not only will my wife be affected adversely by this decision, but

so will my daughter, who will soon enter kindergarten. Clearly you

understand that education is the bedrock for any strong community. It

not only serves its obvious purpose of educating the future of

America, but quality education, like that in Burbank, has many

residual effects that benefit everyone, even families without

children. Crime reduction, increased property values and strong

community values are just a few of the obvious benefits.

These are undoubtedly tough times for our country and local

communities, but this is also the time when we call on our elected

officials to be thoughtful decision makers.

The people who elected you are depending on you to fight for what

is unquestionably right, even if it means raising taxes to do so. As

long as your purpose is clear, your priorities in focus and your

intent sincere, you will have continued support.

The time to act is now, before needless unemployment payments and

legal expenses add to California’s financial crisis. While some cuts

our government is faced with might be unavoidable, please make the

wise decision and save our schools first.

ROBERT MOHLER

Burbank

EDITOR’S NOTE: Since this letter was received, the school district

has rescinded many of the preliminary termination notices, leaving 92

teachers on the list to be notified of their employment status by May

15.