Short-Term, Long-Term…It’s All Important
There seems to be a growing sentiment in Alameda that no one involved in our school district is addressing the long-term problems with public school funding in this state—and that because of that, we shouldn’t raise money locally to help our district survive. I’d like to disabuse us of that sentiment.
First, I know that just about everyone involved in public education in Alameda has been making noise in Sacramento. Many of them have been doing so for years, but right now they are particularly vocal due to the challenge presented by the governor’s latest budget proposal (which cuts $4.5 million from the AUSD budget next year). Those activists include members of the Board of Education, the AUSD administration, the PTA’s, current and retired teachers, staff, high school students, the AEF and many others.
As with all advocacy efforts, some of this interaction is of the up-front-and-noisy variety, while some of it is behind the scenes and so less readily apparent to the general public. But each is doing all they can. I truly believe that.
· Decrying the governor’s proposed suspension of Proposition 98, which constitutionally guarantees a minimum level of funding each year;
· Reducing bureaucratic redundancy (eg: duplicate reporting to both the county and state which takes up time and resources since that reporting has different requirements);
· Arguing for fully funded mandated programs. (I.e., requiring that the state fund each of the programs we are required to provide, such as special education. Currently districts often have to use their own general funds to pay for these state-mandated programs.)
The AEF is in the process of prioritizing the Summit Group’s list for Alameda – so that citizens will have a clear picture of how they can get involved and how they can put pressure on our representatives in Sacramento. We want to know both what is most needed by our schools and what we think we can get done in a political reality.
The broader question, for many community members is, “Why should we vote for the parcel tax instead of just advocating for changes at the state level?” The answer is: “We all need to do both!”
Measure H is the answer to the very immediate (and desperate) need in Alameda’s schools to find the money to pay for beloved programs, teachers, and staff next year. Not an answer, by the way, but the answer. That’s because our legislators cannot change something as complicated—and politically sensitive—as a funding formula before June, when the district has to submit its final budget for 2008-09.
The parcel tax, however, can save those programs, teachers and staff—and do so quickly enough to ensure that our elementary school students have music, our high school students have sports, and our teachers and staff have their jobs this coming September. Without the parcel tax, these programs and teachers absolutely will be cut, because no other source of revenue can be developed quickly enough to save them.
This doesn’t mean we give up our efforts to push Sacramento into looking for a more complete solution to a crazy funding structure. Something as vital to California’s future as the education of its children deserves nothing less than all we have. But we have to do that while we’re taking a focused, clear-eyed approach to the very immediate need of needing funding for programs in 2008-09.
So my plea, Alameda, is this: Please step up and do all that you can to help the schools. not some of what you can do–all of what you can do. Volunteer to help with the Measure H. Donate to AEF. Write letters, go to rallies, talk to your friends and family and neighbors. We all need to pull together to help the schools and our children.
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