Anaheim Union High School District board members are looking to increase funding for public schools as they join the statewide “We Can’t Wait” campaign.

The campaign brings educators, parents, and students together to advocate for funding to improve public school systems.

During their April 10 meeting, the board voted unanimously to join the Anaheim Secondary Teacher Association and California Teacher Association advocating for better public school resources.

“It’s no surprise that public schools are underfunded throughout the state, by the state and by the federal government as well,” District Trustee Jessica Guerrero said during the meeting.

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School board trustees did not respond to requests for comments. 

The call for more money comes as districts across the county struggle with enrollment and funding post-COVID. 

Last year, Anaheim Union High School District officials considered laying off just over 100 teachers in response to declining enrollment but decided against it, as 50 teachers were already set to leave the district through retirement, resignation, or the end of temporary contracts. 

[Read: Anaheim Union School District Scraps Dozens of Scheduled Teacher Layoffs]

At the March 6 board meeting, the district discussed the 2025-26 school year budget and how factors like low enrollment, immigration policy, and tariffs could further negatively impact funding. 

Staff projected in March that during the next school year the district’s general fund would be operating at a nearly $16 million deficit that could grow to almost $42 million by the 2027-28 school year, according to the second interim financial report.

Santa Ana recently voted to lay off nearly 300 staff members, including teachers, to offset the budget deficits caused by low enrollment and attendance as well.

[Read: Santa Ana School District to Lay Off Nearly 300 Teachers and Staff]

The “We Can’t Wait” campaign launched earlier this year and has grown to include 32 school districts across California, which serves a million students.

“It brings light to the chronic underfunding of schools in California,” Anaheim Secondary Teacher Association President Geoff Morganstern said in an email on April 15.

The campaign has three demands, including fully staffing schools to keep small class sizes, securing more resources and having competitive wages and benefits for educators.

The campaign’s demands are a part of the bargaining process with the district for the 2025-26 school year, expecting all 1,200 Anaheim Secondary Teacher Association members to sign on in support, and community engagement efforts growing in the fall, according to Morganstern.

He said he hopes to shine a light on the direct impact the funding would have for students in the classroom through necessary support services. 

“By focusing on the teacher union’s bargaining proposal, the Anaheim community will see that the continued or expanded resources will make a real difference in the classroom where their children are educated,” Morganstern said. 

Morganstern says that one of the campaign’s goals is to prepare the public for the November 2026 ballot initiative on expanding Proposition 55.

Proposition 55 was passed on the 2016 ballot to extend Proposition 30 by another 12 years to last until 2030. The propositions tax high-income taxpayers making over $250,000 to give funding to K-12 schools, community colleges, and health care for low-income Californians.  

According to Morganstern, Proposition 55 makes up 14% of the district’s budget, and Anaheim Union would lose $50 million of its funding annually if the proposition expires.

The district is already seeing the impacts of a lack of funding and hopes that this proposition will help teachers and students.

“For our students, teachers, and their classrooms, we’ve seen the need to limit class sizes and reduce class sizes overall to provide individualized instruction and support, stalled due to a lack of funding,” said Morganstern.