Alameda Education Foundation

Governor’s May Revise is NO Reprieve

Tuesday evening I attended the Board of Education meeting at Haight Elementary school. I went mostly to hear AUSD Chief Financial Officer, Luz Cazares, present her analysis of the Governor’s recently published revision of his proposed budget (the “May revise”). The news is grim.

Despite what you may have read, the Governor’s new proposals are not good for public education. In a masterful PR move, the Governor has fully funded Prop 98 (which constitutionally guarantees annual increases in state funding for schools). But he makes cuts in so many other places he may as well not have funded Prop 98. He looks good, of course, because many advocacy groups and Democrats had decried his cuts to Prop 98. And those groups are now scrambling for a platform to attack his new proposals, since the cuts he’s making are hidden and difficult to articulate.

So what does this mean for our schools in Alameda? Well, there is still no adjustment for the cost of living – which basically means that while expenditures for the schools necessarily go up, our state funding remains static. This is not just a problem that affects Alameda, by the way: Schools across California are seeing costs rise dramatically, for everything from food to the cost of transportation for Special Education.

Moreover, a 6.5% across-the-board cut to categorical programs – which includes things like adult education, K-3 class size reduction and ROP (Regional Occupation Programs – vital for students interested in the technological fields) still stands. And the amount of funding for special education remains level – even while our special education population is growing and the costs for the special ed programs the district is mandated to provide exceeds the amount of revenue it receives.

Even more disturbing, in my opinion, are the proposals to defer the apportionment payments our schools need to function. Simply put: public schools receive their money in chunks – the largest of which comes in June. This allows them to close their books for the fiscal year and look ahead to getting schools ready to open again in the fall. In January, the Governor proposed holding that June payment until September, which would create something of a cash flow crunch for districts. Now he wants to hold portions of all the payments due between July 2008 and March 2009 –and release them only in April!

Make no mistake – under the May revise, Alameda schools are no better off than we were in January. In fact, we could argue easily we are worse off.

Why am I telling you all this? Because it is important to understand if we are hoping the cavalry comes to save our schools – the citizens of Alameda are the cavalry.

In the short term, Alameda must solve this problem for itself. That will mean passing the emergency parcel tax, Measure H. It will mean working with the Foundation. And it will mean participating in your school’s PTA.

It isn’t fair. It isn’t right. But it is the truth and we need to hear it. We need to hear it so we can do what we need to do for our children, for their education, for their future.

The news is grim. This is a hard truth we hold.

But we have hope. And hope is powerful. With hope as the flag leading us to the charge, we can do something about our situation. This is one hard truth we can do something about.

We have hope because Alameda is well educated about the crisis facing its schools. I hear this over and over again–from reporters, staff of elected officials, other school district leaders, and education foundations across the state. “Boy, you guys in Alameda really have your act together. You tell the story of Alameda well and you’re getting a well-coordinated response to this crisis from your community.”

My answer is, “We’re good at this because we’ve had to be, not because we want to be.”

Hope is a good thing. It motivates. It is a call to action. Getting ourselves out from under this state funding mess by passing Measure H – even for a short four years – gives us the chance to craft a strategic plan for the longer term. It keeps local control of our schools at a time when many other districts are beginning to crumble.

And we in Alameda should have hope because people across the island indeed have been coming together, raising money to fund music, or walking precincts to pass Measure H.

We have hope because we are motivated by perhaps the most compelling argument of all – our care for our city’s children.

Below you will find opportunities for volunteering for Measure H. These are the final hours and we need all hands on deck.

The economic reality of our schools is a hard truth. But do not lose hope. Give one last push to passing Measure H. Give Alameda a chance to figure this out. Give our students the chance for a better future.

 (For more information on the May Revise, see the California School Finance site, which is part of  EdSource.