The new school year has officially started—last week marked the beginning of sixth grade for my oldest daughter and fourth grade for my middle daughter! Tomorrow will be the first day of a five-day preschool for my twin girls…

The excitement of a new school year brings the joy of clean backpacks—organized with sharpened pencils and unblemished erasers—new outfits to be worn on the first day, reuniting with friends not seen over the summer and finding out the answer to the question that peeked their curiosity all summer: “Who is my teacher going to be?”

With the excitement of all of those things, though, comes the impact that recent budget cuts have had on our public school system. Many teachers are not returning to their classrooms; with these cuts we will see larger class sizes, fewer teachers and teachers’ aides, fewer support positions and cuts in art and music. My girls brought home supply lists for their classes listing both personal supplies, and community supplies that are to be purchased by parents the first week of school. Although this isn’t unusual, the list this year seems to have grown bigger, and our receipt from the school supply store was higher than in years past.

The reality is that the state of California has a $26 billion deficit and is projected to cut an estimated $6 billion from public education. School districts are considering cutting costs by eliminating kindergarten altogether since it is not mandated by the state. What What impact will this have on our children? With all of the cuts in education it is more important than ever before, that our kids are ready and prepared for school.

So, how are you preparing your children?