Thread: Budget crisis forces deep cuts at Calif. schools

Budget crisis forces deep cuts at Calif. schools

Updated 7m ago

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) — California's historic budget crisis threatens to devastate a public education system that was once considered a national model but now ranks near the bottom in school funding and academic achievement.

Deep budget cuts are forcing California school districts to lay off thousands of teachers, expand class sizes, close schools, eliminate bus service, cancel summer school programs, and possibly shorten the academic year.

Without a strong economic recovery, which few experts predict, the reduced school funding could last for years, shortchanging millions of students, driving away residents and businesses, and darkening California's economic future.

"California used to lead the nation in education," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said during a recent visit to San Francisco. "Honestly, I think California has lost its way, and I think the long-term consequences of that are very troubling."

The budget cuts will be especially painful for struggling schools such as Richmond High School, where more than half of its 1,700 students are English learners and three-quarters are considered poor. The East Bay area school has failed to meet academic standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act for more than four years.

Now Richmond High stands to lose 10% of its 80 teachers. Electives such as French and woodshop will be scrapped. Some classes will expand to more than 40 students. And many special education and English-language students will be placed in mainstream classes.

"We're going to see more and more students slipping through the cracks as those class sizes increase," said Assistant Principal Jen Bender.

Richmond High students are worried about how the cuts will affect their education and ability to attend college.

"I think we won't be able to learn as much," said freshman Andrew Taylor, 15. "They should put more money into schools. If you take money away from schools, you're going to end up with more people going to jail."

Slammed by an epic housing bust and massive job losses, California faces a $24 billion budget deficit and could run out of cash by late July if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature cannot reach a budget deal.

To balance the budget, the governor has proposed closing more than 200 state parks, releasing prisoners early, selling state property, laying off state workers and cutting health care.

Under the governor's plan, K-12 schools and community colleges would lose $5.3 billion over the coming year — on top of billions of dollars in recent reductions and payment delays.

The state would spend $7,806 per K-12 student in 2009-10, almost 10% less than two years ago, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office.

Federal stimulus funds have prevented deeper cuts to a public school system that educates 6.3 million children, of which about a quarter do not speak English well, and nearly half are considered poor under federal guidelines.

School districts have already issued layoff notices to more than 30,000 teachers and other employees, and they could issue more pink slips this summer, according to the state Department of Education.

"All of the things that make schools vibrant and help students learn are on the chopping block, if they haven't been cut already," Robin Swanson, a spokeswoman for the Education Coalition, which advocates funding increases. "When school doors open in the fall, it's going to be a very different public school system."

Many Democrats and school advocates are calling for tax increases to lessen the impact on schools, but Republicans oppose raising taxes. They say California should live within its means and school districts should be given more flexibility to spend their funds.

"You can't spend what you don't have, and you can't spend what the taxpayers don't have," said Republican state Sen. Bob Huff, vice chair of the Senate Education Committee.

The unprecedented budget cuts mark a new low for a once highly regarded public school system that began its decline in 1978, when voters approved Proposition 13, which undercut counties' ability to raise property taxes and generate revenue. The ballot measure shifted the responsibility of funding schools to the state and made it more difficult to increase education funding.

California schools now rank at or near the bottom nationally in academic performance, student-teacher ratios in middle and high school, access to guidance counselors and the percentage of seniors who go directly to four-year colleges, according to a February report by UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access.

In its annual survey this year, Education Week magazine ranked California 47th in per-pupil spending and gave the state a D in academic achievement.

In recent decades, California developed a robust, innovative economy by importing educated workers from other states and countries. But a recent report by the Public Policy Institute of California projected that the state would face a shortage of nearly 1 million college-educated workers in 2025.

State education officials say the budget cuts threaten recent gains in raising test scores and closing a persistent achievement gap between black and Latino students and their white and Asian counterparts.

Democrats are now proposing to eliminate the high school exit exam as a graduation requirement. Jack O'Connell, the state schools chief, has says the exam is essential to helping identify students who fall behind.

The state's budget crisis is taking a heavy toll on school districts such as West Contra Costa Unified, whose financial troubles made it the first school district to be taken over by the state in 1991. Officials say the district, which has large numbers of poor students and English language learners, could face another state takeover if it cannot overcome a $16 million budget shortfall.

"The system is broken," said school board member Antonio Medrano. "We are being forced to cut all kinds of programs."

The cuts are expected to lead to sharp reductions or complete elimination of after-school programs, summer school, adult education, guidance counselors, and electives such as art and music. Class sizes are set to expand from 20 to more than 30 students for kindergarten through third grade.

The teachers union is threatening to strike to protest layoffs of 125 teachers, larger class sizes and proposed cuts to their health care benefits.

"We can't cut our way out of this. We really can't. There will be nothing left of education," said Pixie Hayward-Schickele, who heads the teachers union.

Richmond High School students are bracing for crowded classrooms, fewer course offerings and fewer teachers.

"This school is already overcrowded," said junior Jessica Ledesma, 17. "If there are more students, it's going to be harder to pay attention because it will be loud and crowded and stuffy in there."
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If the federal government would do their job and send all illegal aliens, and their anchor babies, home and keep more of them from coming here, the problem would be much less severe, not only in California but in every state.

The budget cuts will be especially painful for struggling schools such as Richmond High School, where more than half of its 1,700 students are English learners and three-quarters are considered poor.

not our problem... et al ... this is the corruption of the open door politicians, broke foreign governments, WACKO Liberals and needs to come out of their pockets.. they need to fund their own INVASION of the USA

The East Bay area school has failed to meet academic standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act for more than four years.

anothor Illegally Mandated Federal Program that the Federal Government is Making Americans pay for out of it tax's

If the wacko politicians are so concerned ... maybe they should pull the money from the "Bomb the World Funds"

So true. The illegals destroyed the education system here in the state. The teacher's union wanted the illegals. They pushed to overturn prop 187. They wanted them, now they have them and they want us to continue bailing them out.

Teachers OK pact, won't get raises

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles teachers union has approved a contract that includes no raises for three years.

About 81 percent of United Teachers Los Angeles members voted for the contract, with about a third of the 48,000 members voting.

The contract approved Thursday allows teachers to take grievances public, enforces better safety conditions at schools and gives teachers more say in training efforts.
Associated Press

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... ?uniontrib

Education secretary: States that cut school aid may not get extra stimulus money

LIBBY QUAID | AP Education Writer
6:09 PM EDT, June 18, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration warned states Thursday it may withhold millions of dollars if they use stimulus money to plug budget holes instead of boosting aid for schools.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan made the threat in a letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, but his words could have implications for Texas, Arizona and other states.

And they raise the stakes for the White House, which will come under intense pressure from Congress if Duncan does hold back some money.

In the letter, Duncan wrote he is displeased at a plan by Pennsylvania's Republican-led Senate to reduce the share of the state budget for education while leaving its rainy-day surplus untouched. To do so "is a disservice to our children," Duncan wrote.

"Each state has an obligation to play its part in spurring today's economy and protecting our children's education," he wrote.

Duncan said the plan may hurt Pennsylvania's chance to compete for a $5 billion competitive grant fund created by the stimulus law to reward states and school districts that adopt innovations Obama supports.

Rendell, a fellow Democrat, asked Duncan to weigh in.

The education secretary applied similar pressure to Tennessee lawmakers last month after Democrats there blocked a bill to let more kids into charter schools, even though President Barack Obama supports charter schools.

Duncan warned the state could lose out on extra stimulus dollars, and it appears to have worked: This week, lawmakers revived the bill and put it on a fast track toward passage.

In Pennsylvania, the issue is over school spending, which takes up a huge share of state budgets.

State Senate Republicans argue the economy is forcing states across the country to make up for budget cuts with federal stimulus dollars.

Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi said lawmakers can only spend what they have, and they wanted to hold onto the rainy-day surplus in case it's needed once the stimulus money, two years' worth of spending, has run out.

Pileggi said Thursday he is willing to reconsider because the financial picture has worsened since Republicans put their budget together.

"It's certainly something that needs to be re-examined, whether some part of the rainy day fund needs to be utilized in the coming year," Pileggi said.

Rendell is pushing to use the surplus now.

"The state must make sure we do not simply use stimulus funds to cut state funding for schools," Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said.

States use rainy-day funds to set aside extra revenue when times are good to use in economic downturns. The surplus funds make it easier for states to borrow money and, when times are tough, help lawmakers avoid tax increases or spending cuts that might worsen a downturn.

In Texas, Arizona and many other states, state lawmakers are still arguing over school spending cuts and the use of stimulus dollars.

Obama did not intend for state lawmakers to simply cut state education spending and replace it with stimulus dollars.

Congress made that tough to enforce; the stimulus law generally does not prohibit states from using some of the money to replace precious state aid for schools. The result is that school districts could wind up with no additional state aid even as local tax revenues plummet.

But Duncan does have leverage; he alone has control over the $5 billion incentive fund. And in some cases, he may be able to withhold some stimulus dollars that have been allocated for a particular state.
___
Associated Press writer Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pa. contributed to this report

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wi ... 5189.story

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

[size=18]
About 81 percent of United Teachers Los Angeles members voted for the contract, with about a third of the 48,000 members voting.

Okay, I'm a California Public School Graduate back when it was first-rate but I find there must be another story here since only "A total of 16,354 ballots were cast." http://www.utla.net/system/files/TAV... at work here.

Originally Posted by snakeoil

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

[size=18]
About 81 percent of United Teachers Los Angeles members voted for the contract, with about a third of the 48,000 members voting.

Okay, I'm a California Public School Graduate back when it was first-rate but I find there must be another story here since only "A total of 16,354 ballots were cast." http://www.utla.net/system/files/TAV... at work here.

It was a union contract negation election , not a public election.

Originally Posted by "JohnDoe2

It was a union contract negation election , not a public election.

That's my point!

Originally Posted by snakeoil

Originally Posted by "JohnDoe2

It was a union contract negation election , not a public election.

That's my point!

The public doesn't ever get to vote on a union employment contract.
They are represented in the negotiation by attorneys and labor negotiators.