Education Coalition says State Budget will Devastate Public Education in California Now and for Years to Come
Our state’s leaders took a bad budget proposal and made it worse, passing a budget that failed to invest in California’s students or in our shared future, and relied on borrowing instead of real budgeting. The damaging proposal was passed nearly 12 weeks after it was due, and still didn’t address our state’s most pressing needs or create real, long-term solutions.



Failing to make responsible choices or to provide the reasonable balance of cuts and revenues that voters, educators and parents supported, (like those proposed in the original Conference Committee Budget), our leaders instead relied on gimmicks and short-term fixes that only leave our state and our schools deeper in the hole next year.



As a result, our schools will be shortchanged an additional $3 billion this year, ensuring that per pupil spending in California remains among the very worst in the country. This budget borrows against our children’s future.



Despite this enormous setback for California’s schools and students, the Education Coalition will continue to stand up against bad budget policies that shortchange education. We can only hope that in the coming budget year, our state’s leaders will learn from this year’s failed budget, and change course to invest in California’s future.

http://www.protectourstudents.org/

Education leaders blast proposed state budget plan
By Kimberly S. Wetzel
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 09/19/2008 05:51:22 PM PDT

State and local education leaders this week, getting their first glimpse of the new state budget proposal, blasted the tentative spending plan as an "accounting gimmick" that leaves students out in the cold.

The plan — approved by the Legislature more than 80 days late and which was still awaiting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature Friday — allots $58.1 billion for education, an increase of almost $300 million over last year. That amounts to a cost-of-living increase of 0.7 percent, much less than the 5.66 percent increase school districts hoped to get, or about $3 billion less than educators would like to see, according to Jennifer Kuhn, analyst at the state Legislative Analyst's Office.

Education leaders this week echoed each other in criticizing the plan, saying it doesn't do enough to help local school districts pay for the rising costs of just about everything. State Superintendent of Instruction Jack O'Connell called the plan a "gimmick," while California Teachers Association President David Sanchez and California PTA President Pam Brady each urged Schwarzenegger to use his veto power to leverage a more education-friendly budget.

"The proposed budget includes a reduction of the cost-of-living adjustment that will further tighten the vise on local school budgets as districts across the state face increased costs for supplies, food, transportation and employee health care costs," O'Connell said in a statement. "These reductions
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are a disservice to California's 6 million school children and the thousands of educators across the state."

The plan does keep in place state Proposition 98, a 1988 constitutional amendment approved by voters that guarantees minimum funding for education, and there's language that restores cost-of-living funds in the event the money becomes available. There was some discussion of suspending Proposition 98 earlier this year amid the $17 billion state deficit.

The Legislature approved the $104 billion spending plan Tuesday, but the relief was short-lived as the governor threatened to veto the bill later that day. A compromise announced Thursday does not change the education components of the plan, and Schwarzenegger is expected to sign off on the deal soon.

Because of the record-long impasse, local school districts have been operating without state money for months. Mt. Diablo school district Superintendent Gary McHenry said the district has been able to pay its bills using a carry-forward balance but is awaiting state money for such things as classes to help high-schoolers pass the state-mandated exit exam.

He said he's disappointed that the Legislature took so much time to deliver such a lackluster budget.

"My first reaction is it's not sufficient," McHenry said. "My second reaction is it took too long. The proposal they came up with, to me, could have been done two months ago."

Troy Flint, spokesman for the state-run Oakland schools, said the drawn-out legislative process, with its fluctuating budget projections, has posed an extra challenge for his district.

Oakland Unified, which received a multimillion-dollar emergency loan from the state in 2003, has had to revise its long-range financial recovery plan in light of the new projections, Flint said. The district is now expecting to spend $9 million less in 2009-2010 than it had planned because of a dramatic reduction in the cost-of-living money from the state.

"We were hoping for a better solution," Flint said. "While the impact for this year will be minimal, next year's outlook is discouraging."

Staff writer Katy Murphy contributed to this story. Reach Kimberly S. Wetzel at 510-262-2798 or at kwetzel@bayareanewsgroup.com.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10512249?source=most_viewed

Locals relieved and worried by budget deal
Officials of schools, health clinics and transportation agencies in San Diego and Riverside counties breathed a sigh of relief Friday as California's Democratic and Republican lawmakers ended their record-setting fiscal feud and passed a $143 billion spending plan for a budget year that is almost three months old.

Finally, area health care officials can look forward to receiving checks from Sacramento again, said Barbara Mannino, chief executive officer of the Vista Community Clinic, which serves 51,000 people through its five health clinics in Vista and Oceanside and four after-school programs.

"The last check that we received from the state was at the beginning of August," Mannino said Friday, adding that state funding covers two-thirds of the clinics' program costs.

She said the clinics have had to hold off fixing a roof, buying a refrigerator for vaccines and filling staff vacancies to stretch remaining dollars.

School officials said they were grateful that earlier threats to cut 7 percent from funding for programs such as special education and class-size reduction were taken back.

And transportation officials said they were relieved that lawmakers kept their hands off the gasoline sales-tax revenue that is supposed to be reserved for highways, trains and buses.

"The good news is that they didn't divert Prop. 42 funding," said John Standiford, a spokesman for the Riverside County Transportation Commission, which is overseeing the expansion of western Riverside County's highway system.

But educators said they were disappointed that the new state budget includes a tiny, 0.68 percent cost-of-living increase for K-12 schools.

"It's going to be a tight year," said Jeff Okun, assistant superintendent of business support services for the Temecula Valley Unified School District.

Across the board, officials expressed deep concern about Sacramento's failure, yet again, to spend only what it takes in.

Lawmakers' penchant for punting fiscal problems into the future by borrowing could blow up in a shaky economy, they warned, and makes it likely that the region will have to absorb substantial reductions in state funding next year.

"The budget this year is another house of cards," said Jennifer Walters, Escondido Unified School District superintendent. "They haven't addressed the ... deficit. Who knows if they will be able to find the same level of funding for 2009-10. It looks like we may be in for a troubled economy for some time."

John Roach, superintendent of the Carlsbad Unified School District, echoed the sentiment.

"I'm really concerned about the continued use of borrowing and the smoke and mirrors of getting the budget done," Roach said. "I'm afraid that this is really going to lead to school districts next January having to cut their budgets again. I don't believe that's what the public wants."

Nor does the public want its gas money siphoned from transportation to plug a hole in next year's budget, but Standiford said it may come to that if the state's fiscal condition worsens.

"If the situation gets desperate enough, it might be something that they would resort to," he said.

The uncertainty left by the budget deal is frustrating, Walters said.

"I wish that my staff could just worry about raising student achievement," Walters said. "As it is, we'll need to work on morale. Other states don't fund education so erratically. They just don't."

It all seems to go back to the way California elects its lawmakers, Roach said, saying there are so many solidly Republican and Democrat districts that most legislators are either very liberal or conservative, and do not reflect the majority of Californians who are in the middle.

"My view is you're sending Teddy Kennedy and Rush Limbaugh to Sacramento," Roach said.

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 745-6611, ext. 2623, or ddowney@nctimes.com.

http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2008/09/19/news/sandiego/zd0d9a43a28b35672882574c900632a8b.txt

Enrollment up, funds down
With more adults returning to school this fall to change careers in the wake of the struggling economy, local community colleges are faced with funding problems as their enrollments jump and budgets stay the same.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_10534679

At Los Angeles Harbor College in Wilmington, enrollment is up 10 percent, President Linda Spink said. That kind of spike is difficult to swallow.

"We can't afford to be up 10 percent," she said.

The state budget allows funding for only 2 percent growth, but most colleges probably won't even receive that, Spink explained.

"The state assumes that not all colleges will get growth, and what I'm hearing is everybody's growing," she said.

It's typical for enrollment to surge when the economy is weak, and Harbor College has seen more adult students and recent high school graduates, Spink said.

At $20 a unit, community colleges are much more affordable than California State University schools, where students pay $1,524 a semester plus additional fees. But the
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unit price set by the state Legislature isn't enough to cover the cost of a student's education, Spink said, which means a larger student body would require a larger per-unit subsidy.

To account for the increase in students and resulting budget shortfall, Harbor College has made cuts across the board, Spink said. Every budget line has been reviewed, and the college has scaled back on overtime and hiring.

Even courses with low enrollment -- typically the advanced classes that have prerequisites -- have been canceled.

However, more general education math and science classes have been added to accommodate the additional students.

"It's difficult for a campus to know our mission is to serve students and not be able to accommodate everyone," Spink said. "It eats at the core of who we are, as people and educators."

El Camino College near Torrance has experienced about half the growth as Harbor College, but is still reducing budgets in every department, said Ann Garten, director of community relations.

"Each department cut its budget by 5 percent," Garten said. "There are certain fixed costs, like paying for lighting and other utilities, that are the same no matter how many students you have. More students to help cover those costs means we can have more programs."

Instead of reducing the number of classes offered, El Camino, with its 4.7 percent enrollment increase, has been able to add more popular math and science classes -- particularly ones that are transfer courses.

Most of the budget cuts have been administrative, Garten said. Some managerial positions are filled by temporary faculty who don't qualify for the same benefits, such as paid vacation and sick days, as permanent staff members.

"It is a tough balancing act," she said.

Harbor College students said they noticed longer lines and more returning students when they registered for classes this semester.

"(The classes) are still packed," said Vanessa Ceja, a second-year student. "They get smaller towards the end of the semester as people drop out."

Carlos Rubio, also a second-year student, said he has seen a change in the student demographics.

"I actually have noticed a lot of older students," he said.

Students who have online classes also are feeling the effects of increased enrollment.

"I noticed my online classes were full months in advance," said Lora Lane, a Harbor College computer information sciences professor. The one class she teaches on campus also has more students than normal, she said. "Every class is wait-listed. Late-start classes, which begin in October, were full at the same time as regular classes."

In the past, students on the first day have been able to add a class but now it's important to enroll early, Lane said.

"Students need to think months ahead," she said. "I get desperate e-mails from people who just need one more class to complete their transfer credits, but it's too late."

janna.brancolini@dailybreeze.com

Parents, Teachers, and School Personnel Protest " No State Budget"
KTVU (Fox) Coverage of Walnut Creek Day of Action Protest:
http://www.ktvu.com/video/17401937/index.html


San Jose Action Day Event TV coverage: KRON-TV

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1315744788?bctid=1776463922

San Jose Event Radio Coverage: KCBS Radio

http://www.kcbs.com/San-Jose-Teachers-Protest-Budget-Impasse/2915171

KGO-TV Coverage of San Francisco Day of Action Event:

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local&id=6373133

The Fremont Education Coalition in the News
http://worldjournal.com/wj-sf-news.php?nt_seq_id=1707476


An article also appeared in The Argus on April 26th.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_9064762?IADID=Search-http://www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com