Live Oak teachers say education funding reform ‘can’t wait’ (2025)

LIVE OAK — The kids are still all right, but the system that supports their education is buckling and needs reform. And it “can’t wait.”

That was the message delivered by almost 90 concerned teachers, parents and students on the corners of 17th Avenue and Capitola Road in Live Oak Wednesday, who rallied in defense of local educators as threatening winds at the federal level grow stronger. The event was organized by the Live Oak Elementary Teachers Association, and it is a local manifestation of the We Can’t Wait campaign launched by the California Teachers Association that represents 77,000 teachers in 32 districts across the state.

In a reflection of the broader statewide campaign, the main thrust of the union’s local demonstration was to say loudly that resources for teachers and the students they serve are rapidly dwindling, and that education leaders need to rethink funding strategies because the status quo won’t be enough for a passing grade.

“This is catching a groundswell of folks that are just trying to look out for the future. We have to invest in our kids, plain and simple,” said Ryan Hoffman, a Live Oak School District parent and member of its education foundation board. “It shouldn’t be that teachers are dipping into their own pockets to pay for school supplies.”

Rally-goers packed themselves closely together on all four corners of the busy Mid-County intersection, sporting ruby red union T-shirts and “We Can’t Wait” signs held up by classroom rulers. Many teachers, in booming voices usually reserved for commanding their students’ attention, cranked up the volume on their “California students cannot wait” chants as they competed with the cacophonous traffic that sped by.

Though the effort has statewide roots, the cause hits close to home for the Live Oak School District. Like many other districts across the state, Live Oak has endured serious financial hardship in recent years amid declining enrollment and the loss of temporary COVID-19 relief funding. This has led to multiple rounds of painful budget and staffing cuts amid public outcries as leaders have scrambled to right-size the district’s finances.

Lauren Pomrantz, president of the elementary teacher’s association, told the Sentinel at Wednesday’s rally that union and district leadership are in a place of amicable relations and good-faith negotiations. And while the district may not have adequate financial resources despite its best intentions, she said, it is the teachers who will always end up picking up the slack and that solution isn’t going to cut it.

“The bottom line is that we’re not getting the resources we need in order to be able to have competitive salaries,” said Pomrantz, clarifying that the union’s next bargaining session with the district has been scheduled for later this month. “Meanwhile, we still show up every day and we’re trying to survive here. … We deserve better than having to seek out these tiny little raises year, after year, after year.”

According to a January report commissioned by the California Teachers Association called “The State of California’s Public Schools,” about 40% of the educators surveyed were thinking about leaving the profession because they aren’t getting the support they need in school and can’t make ends meet. What’s more, 84% of responding teachers said they couldn’t afford to live near their schools.

Santa Cruz County has consistently been ranked among the most expensive — if not the most expensive — rental markets in the nation.

In an email to the Sentinel, the district’s Board of Trustees President Kristin Pfotenhauer said she supports the teachers’ effort to raise awareness about the state of education funding.

“California spends a smaller percentage of the state budget on education than comparable states and spends less per pupil than the average state. When combined with high cost of living, increased medical costs and increased costs for retirement benefits, California teachers’ earning power has decreased and our class sizes are among the highest in the nation,” Pfotenhauer wrote. “This overall reduction in funding is happening as tech companies are benefiting from the use of algorithms that are harming students’ mental health and attention span. And today, President Trump has declared he will cut K-12 funding to any district that doesn’t commit to ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Teachers are reasonably frustrated.”

Pomrantz also hopes this week’s rally will draw attention to the state’s Proposition 55, which taxes high-income earners to pay primarily for K-12 education programs. The measure is set to sunset in 2030 and the California Teachers Association is already organizing to put a measure on the 2026 ballot that would extend the tax a second time.

“We need something different to happen in order to make this profession sustainable,” said Pomrantz. “In Live Oak, we’re using the momentum of what happened last year and our energy toward reform to make sure that we’re continuing on that upper trend of capturing any and all dollars that are possible to capture at the local level.”

The rally comes almost two weeks after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that calls for the dismantling of the U.S. Education Department. While experts have said the department’s dissolution likely requires an act of Congress, the agency has already experienced massive cuts that county education leaders have saidwill impact many local programs.

Julio Andrade, director of the family advocacy organization Cradle to Career, also stood on the street corner in Live Oak Wednesday in solidarity with the local educators. He said local families, particularly those from underserved communities, have felt alarmed and attacked by the recent slashing of federal programs and staff.

“Families are afraid those programs are going to go away,” said Andrade. “That’s their main concern right now — not knowing if their kids are going to have the proper support to continue growing at the educational level.”

Asked if his organization has been directly hit by any recent cuts coming from the White House, Andrade said technically it has not, “but if it’s impacting the district, it’s going to impact us one way or the other.”