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Palo Alto Online

Budget cuts take a back-seat to school work

by Rachel Metz

Heather Hoffman was one of 1,000 students who swarmed Sacramento in February protesting cuts to basic-aid school districts. Waving signs proclaiming "Education 1st, Not Prisons" and evoking memories of the '60s anti-war movement, Hoffman and her peers meant to make a difference.

But now that the picket signs have been packed away, the Gunn High School sophomore has found that concerns about the school budget crisis have taken a back seat to exams and end-of-the-year festivities.

"At the rally there were a lot of juniors there, but not a lot of people at Gunn went compared to other schools," Hoffman said. "Maybe after the pressure of the AP's and Star Testing is out of the way, then maybe somehow we can get a rally together and it can all come into place."

Lakshmi Eassey, a Palo Alto High School student, said the lack of ongoing budget information contributed to the drop in interest. Many students formed communication networks at the February rally, Eassey said, but since then a small percentage of students have actually worked on the budget issue.

"I think that a lot of awareness was promoted during the protests earlier in February, but I think a lot of students don't really feel the affect that the budget cuts could have or will have and so they just ... I don't think they know enough about it and since they don't know enough about it they're almost apathetic about it," said Eassey, who is also Paly's student body president.

Gunn junior Priscilla Mendoza said there is more campus talk on the war in Iraq and the SARS virus.

"I probably would be more involved if I knew more about it and if I knew more about the opportunities that are out there for us," said Mendoza.

Jimmy Meuel, a Paly junior, said a lot of students are unsure about how budget cuts will actually affect the school.

"It's just one of those things where until it would be set in, until the budget would be cut and we start feeling the affects of that, people might be taking stuff for granted," Meuel said.

At Gunn and Paly, student body presidents Freddy Flaxman and Eassey are working to keep students informed about the latest budget news. Gunn has distributed fliers on the topic around campus, while Paly's student council representatives report to their fourth-period classes with budget information.

Eassey wrote a few letters to local government officials to protest upcoming cuts, but said students don't think there is much they can do. She plans to encourage students to attend school board meetings and keep themselves informed about the crisis.

"I don't know if anything will help beyond what's already being done," Eassey said.