Reading the April 2 letters which belittled the funding woes of the California education system, I became very close to irate.

I am not a teacher, a school board member, a parent. I am not an administrator. I am a student.

And while I don't understand the inner workings of the school system- much like many of the writers to the letters section, it seems- I at least have a comprehension of what it's like to be at the brunt end of endless budget cuts and chronic underfunding.

Last month, with the balancing of California's budget, came $9.3 billion in cuts to the state's educational fund.

Education shouldn't be, as the rest of the economy is, at the whims of growth and recession because the most basic economic principles do not apply. Schools aren't at the mercy of supply and demand because they will always have kids to teach.

So while small businesses contract from lack of demand, schools cannot be expected to do the same because they still have the same number of students to teach.

Imagine running a business with decreasing funds while being expected to produce the same number of products of the same quality. It wouldn't happen.

So how can we ask our schools to do that with our children? Emilie Maddison Westlake High School