SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell issued the following statement in response to Governor's Schwarzenegger's announced intention to veto the budget package passed by the Legislature today.

"It would be extremely irresponsible to veto these budget bills when each day without a solution deepens our state's fiscal crisis. I would never applaud the painful cuts to education that were included in the budget bills passed today. But, unless we act responsibly now, the cuts to schools and other public services will have to be unbearably severe. Schools are braced for cuts. However unwelcome these reductions are, the uncertainty of inaction is much worse. I urge Governor Schwarzenegger to sign the budget bills passed today and bring needed certainty to our schools."