Last week my colleagues and I on the school board participated in one of the toughest meetings in recent memory. Facing severe budget cuts coming from Sacramento, the board passed a resolution to eliminate 106.45 fulltime equivalent certificated positions. Folks, that's a full 25 percent (yes, onequarter) of the district's teachers who expect to be getting pink slips come March 13. Over 100 people we trust with our children on a daily basis are scheduled to leave the district next year.

The district already absorbed $3 million in funding cuts from the state at the beginning of this school year. With these cuts rolled over into next year's budget, in an unprecedented move, we received word that there would be even deeper cuts next year.

Eighty-five percent or more of a school's operating budget goes toward funding school personnel, mostly the teaching staff. With budget cuts of this magnitude, the board had no choice but to proceed with the layoff resolution.

Here are some facts about the state of California and its education funding.

According to the California Legislative Analyst's Office in Sacramento, if California were an independent country, in 2006 it would have had the eighth largest economy in the world. Per capita personal income was $38,956, ranking 11th in the nation.

That same year a series of 23 in-depth studies funded by private foundations and coordinated by Stanford University examined California's school governance and finance systems. These are the results that were released to the public in March 2007. Keep in mind that this reflects data before the recent budget cuts.

•California per pupil spending is $7,081, ranking behind 45 other states and the District of Columbia.

•California only spends 3.3 percent of its taxable resources on education, ranking 37th behind other states.

•California ranks 49th behind only Arizona and Utah in studentto-teacher ratio. It ranks 50th in principal-to-student ratio, 50th in counselor-to-student ratio and 51st, including D.C., in librariantostudent ratio.

All this, while California's academic standards and expectations for student performance are extremely high.

To make matters worse, earlier this week one of the political parties in Sacramento ousted their leader in favor of another who opposes all tax increases in California. At this writing it appears that even passing a budget for this fiscal year will be further delayed, causing an even greater loss in tax dollars to the state and school funding.

It is beyond my comprehension what is happening—or not happening—to education funding in Sacramento. I can't begin to imagine that leaders of a state with one of the greatest economies in the world, are refusing to adequately invest in education.

Worst of all, there seems to be a gross disregard for the impact this will all have on the youth in Moorpark and the rest of the state. This practice of mortgaging the future must stop.

I strongly urge you to pick up the phone and leave a message for the elected officials who represent Moorpark at the state level. Tell them that the schools simply cannot absorb any more cuts. Tell them to pass measures to adequately fund schools in Moorpark and California.

As a district, Moorpark has gone way beyond trimming the fat in its budget. We're well through the muscle and dangerously approaching the bone.