Too much debt for our schools

Lately, you have printed several letters from parents concerned about providing more money for our public schools.

I am a parent of three elementary school children in Calabasas who is more concerned about the school bonds and other debt our public schools are forcing on our children.

Our schools now receive an annual budget of over $60 billion. California's state spending has increased by 65 percent since 1997. We also now owe over $60 billion in bonds. These are high interest loans which our children will have to pay back in the next decades. That's a lot of debt to foist on our children in a very competitive world. Are we truly being responsible parents? Is this the way we protect our children's futures?

Every year, we hear about "budget cuts." Most citizens have not been told that California's public school enrollments actually fell by 5 percent this year. Many are not aware that the largest labor union in the nation is the National Education Association. It seems that no matter how much we fund our schools, this association wants more.

Teachers are encouraged to retire at 61.5 years of age, and their salaries have increased by $20,000 over the past 10 years to over $60,000 on average.

Let's not forget that this is a ninemonth year, and these employees receive generous benefits and retirement plans. This is a much higher compensation than the average private sector employee gets.

Our state now borrows money each year—more debt that our children will inherit—to pay for teachers' retirement benefits we can not afford to pay out.

Instead of further indebting our kids, why not raise the retirement age for members of the National Education Association to at least a mandatory 65 years of age?

That would save millions of dollars instantly. Or how about asking our teachers to work a 12month year, thereby saving money by not hiring summer school teachers?

I realize that these recommendations are not popular. But they would be the right thing to do to help protect our children's futures. Julie Freeman Calabasas