My Story: A Teacher’s Son in East Bay Schools

By Caillou Dasalla

Growing up as the son of a teacher, and as the product of California public schools, everyday both in and out of the classroom was a demonstration in the inadequate funding. Even within a relatively well-funded school district like Castro Valley Unified, where I grew up, there were shortcomings and imperfections. From the time I was a 6th grader until graduation, my classrooms typically had a ratio of 30-40 students to 1 teacher. This meant the students were underserved and often ignored, and conversely the teacher was overworked. As a student you become lost in a crowd of faces, left to fend for yourself. The teacher is equally as stranded.

Upon going home, I would watch as my mother graded papers well into the night, unpaid yet bearing her superiors’ high expectations. As an adult school teacher, she did not receive tenure until over a decade into teaching, and every term she fights to maintain funding for her vital vocational programs, despite their stellar track record. All the while, this hustle and self-sacrifice was met with a salary unable to independently afford the roof over my brother and I’s head and hours away from her own children.

My grandmother, the daughter of a laborer in Manila, came to own her house in the Sunset District of San Francisco after becoming a nurse. My mother, the first generation daughter of peasants from the islands of Portugal, achieved her Masters in Psychology and secured herself a career for life. These are just two of many stories about what Californian education should be able to do for its students. In the last 40 years, however, that expectation has rapidly diminished as K-12 and higher education is deprived of meaningful funding in California.

Education, more so than any other pathway in our society, is the foremost equaliser. No other outlet has the capacity to thwart injustice, disprivilege, and prejudice like education does. California public education, as it stands, is unacceptably underfunded and underserved - especially considering the state’s phenomenal wealth. It is imperative that California tap into the riches it possesses and close the Prop. 13 corporate loophole, so as to ensure the betterment of its children. Therefore, fully funding an equitable education system will uplift not only our children but generations to come too. Prioritize our children, our schools, our future, and secure the California dream by fully funding education.