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3/8/2010
Keeping Our Schools Open No Matter What
We are now near the $300 million mark in cutting San Diego Unified’s budget in less than three years. In spite of these extremely tight times we will manage to avoid increasing class size next year, we will maintain a full curriculum, including music and athletics, and we will ensure a safe and secure environment. Our top priority will be student achievement.
We have struggled to minimize the damage to our students. We have accomplished this through shared sacrifice by teachers, parents and students during a two year austerity plan.
We are asking parents to chip in for transportation when allowed by law. Parents will also pay for AP exams. Certain unnecessary standardized tests will be suspended. Students will have one week less of school. Sixth grade camp, Old Town and Balboa Park have been cut back.
Furloughs will result in teachers receiving less pay with 5 furlough days in the following two years and higher health care payments. In 2007 a district task force committed towards bringing our teacher pay from a very low rank up to the average level for San Diego County. This has been delayed until 2013, due to the economic crisis. Unfortunately, there will also be a further reduction in the number of teachers in the district next year. We will do this without increasing class size, by moving some teachers from administrative positions back to the classroom.
The biggest cuts have taken place at the central office. Travel has been severely restricted. I canceled an advocacy trip to Washington this month. Our Board President will represent us, but will cover his own airfare and lodging (out of his $348 weekly salary). Spending and hiring freezes this year have made sure that every dollar spent is closely reviewed. This Board is committed to balancing the budget.
We cannot continue to survive the underfunding of public education. We are running a very tight ship, but we will mortgage our future if California does not find the way to fund public education in the way that gave so many opportunities to my generation.
With all of the gridlock in Sacramento we have one encouraging bipartisan breakthrough in San Diego. Democratic Assemblyman Marty Block and Republican Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher are cosponsoring a bill proposed by San Diego Unified that would eliminate the penalties that we had to pay when the tight budget last June forced us to raise some class sizes. This could mean $20 million more for our schools over the next two years. Penalties are not budgeted, so this does not involve a tax increase. Our representatives need to know what you think about this bill, AB 2272. Please take a moment to call or email Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Block and then let our other local representatives know, too.
We now have great unity among our district leaders, parents, teachers, students and community leaders who believe that San Diegans will do whatever it takes to have a great public school system.
Posted by John Lee Evans at 9:00 AM 1/25/2010
Reflections on the Budget Crisis
We have tried to provide the public with information and be as open and transparent as possible about the upcoming budget decisions. Over the past year editorial comments in the U-T have given a misleading impression about what the Board of Education is doing. I decided to respond in an op-ed piece last week to clarify who is really in control of San Diego Unified.
The community has become involved as never before. A La Jolla group is interested in forming a cluster association. In District A groups have already formed in Mira Mesa and University City, as well as the Madison cluster in the Clairemont area. A more established cluster exists in Point Loma. This provides the parents, teachers and community members a means to address the Board of Education in a more united fashion about what is needed in each community. It does not create more money; it can create more collaboration between schools and better use of resources as children move from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Proposed salary cuts for teachers and staff were written about in the San Diego Union Tribune. This is a very sensitive topic and we must be very considerate of our employee groups as they contemplate these sacrifices. President Barrera has emphasized shared sacrifice to get through these difficult budget times. But we also need to address the unstable funding system for our public schools. In Sunday's editorial section President Barrera clearly explained in an extensive Q&A many of the challenges facing the district, including some of the problems with Race to the Top.
Our staff is working hard to develop a budget with the top six priorities that the board approved on January 12. We are going to start at the bottom (what do we absolutely need and cannot get by without for the next two years?) and then we will add other priorities as funds become available. The staff will present their findings at the February 9, board budget workshop.
We are keeping close watch on what is happening in Sacramento and Washington with regard to education funding. We will keep you posted when legislative bills are introduced that will be advantageous to our students, so that we all can contact our legislators.
Post your comments here.
Posted by John Lee Evans at 5:00 PM 12/7/2009
Budget crisis: What would YOU do?
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The reality is that our budget may be cut more than $200 million on top of all of the serious cuts that we have experienced the last two years. We have already made major cuts in the central office, we have reduced office staffs to the bare minimum, we have 600 fewer teachers than last year, we have consolidated bus routes, we have increased class size in some grades and we have instituted spending and hiring freezes. We must now enter into a deeper austerity program for at least two years.
What more can we do? In my opinion, further cuts are unconscionable, but at this point the state treasury is going down every day. To put the cuts in perspective, our budget could be balanced if we denied education next year to 40,000 students. In fact this is what the state universities are doing—limiting enrollment and leaving students outside. Of course, that is not an option for us. So we have to find a solution that saves the same amount of money as “laying off” 40,000 students. The only other alternative is for the state legislature to raise the funds that we need to operate our schools.
The Board has expressed an interest in developing a budget based upon our priorities rather than simply looking at a list of outrageous cuts. We have seen long lists of cuts proposed by staff. Even if we approved all of them it would not come close to closing the gap. Of course, we are restricted by many state laws as to how we are allowed to spend our money. But we must at least declare our priorities. Which of these is your first priority?
a) We must maintain reasonable class sizes, many of which are already too high. It would be better to make other cuts, such as the number of school days or certain academic programs than to have even more students in every classroom.
OR
b) We must maintain the current minimum of 180 days of instruction. Decreasing the number of days in the school year would have an unacceptable effect on our student achievement.
OR
c) We must keep all academic programs in place. A full curriculum is the key to student success. This is more important than class size or the number of school days.
Remember that saving $10-$20 million will not do it. At this point we need $200 million. The only thing that can change that figure is for the state legislature to take bold action. So far, the two political parties have not found common ground on a way to fund public education. We currently rank somewhere between 47th and 49th in per pupil spending in the US. We have cut fat and waste in the past two years. Starving the system will not make it better. Do we want to fund public education in California at a reasonable level?
Please rank the above three priorities: 1,2,3. Of course, there are legal limits and complications to making any of these changes, but I would like to know what you think is absolutely most important for the education of our children.
Posted by John Evans at 9:00 AM
12/5/2009
Come to our Town Hall Meeting December 8
John Lee Evans and Interim Superintendent Bill Kowba will hold a town hall meeting to inform you about the budget crisis and to hear your priorities as we prepare to make difficult decisions.
What? Town Hall Meeting, District A
When? Tuesday, December 8 at 6:30 p.m.
Where? Madison High School Library, 4833 Doliva Drive, San Diego 92117 (near 805)
Who? Parents, teachers, students and concerned community members
Be a part of the solution. The public schools belong to all of us.
Posted by John Evans at 5:00 PM
9/29/2009
Welcome to My SD Unified Blog!
This is where I will share new and updates about my work on the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education. This will also allow you to post comments and suggestions to share with me and other.
Come back often! Please read the next section and post your comments about the budget priorities after that posting.
Posted by John Lee Evans at 2:00 PM
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