SWOP's Emma Sandoval has an opinion piece published in the Albuquerque Journal today. In the piece, she talks about the state's budget crisis in relation to her own experience as a young Chicana and single mother.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Build Tax Base Instead of Piling on More Cuts
By Emma Sandoval
SouthWest Organizing Project
The state Legislature meets this weekend for a special session convened by Gov. Bill Richardson to figure out how to deal with a sizable and growing budget deficit. The governor and leaders of our Legislature all seem to think they can make cuts to government services alone to plug what some estimate could be a $700 million hole in the budget.
As a young Chicana and single mom, I shake my head at the thought. Rather than target our social programs for cuts, it's time to find the revenue we need — we can no longer bury our heads in the sand.
The state has an education crisis, especially concerning Latino youths. A study commissioned by the state in 2008 showed our educational system is already underfunded by 14.5 percent. Then, the Legislature gave us a budget this year that harmed education further by using one-time stimulus funding rather than finding the additional revenue we need.
As has just been discussed in an Albuquerque Journal series, it's Latino youths who bear the brunt of New Mexico's lack of investment in education. For many of us, government-funded programs are the make-or-break factor for achieving bright futures.
I dropped out of high school when I was 16. It was only through a mentorship program that I was able to turn that trajectory around and get back into school. I don't know where I would be today without that mentoring. These types of programs are essential if we want to turn around the achievement gap between Latino and Anglo youths.
Read the rest here.
2 Tell us what you think:
Very cool!
diles carnala, diles!
Post a Comment