Speakers
- Assemblymember Torrico - http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a20/
- Jean Ross – Executive Director, California Budget Project http://www.cbp.org/
This is an information packed website and well worth the read. Her presentation is at http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2008/080207_chartbookmasterbullets.pdf - Trisha Tahmasbi – Trustee, Ohlone College Board http://www.ohlone.edu/org/board/members.html
- Rick Pratt – Assistant Executive Director California School Boards Association His presentation is at http://www.csba.org/TrainingAndEvents/Events/2007/Forecast.aspx
Newark was well-represented by Superintendent Dr. John Bernard and Board Members Ray Rodriguez, Jan Crocker, and Nancy Thomas. Newark City Council was represented by Ana Apodaca.
Fremont Unified was represented by Fremont Unified District Teacher’s Association President Jeff Poe.
There were a number of teachers present including myself, Joanne Hong, and Leslie Turner from NMHS.
I also picked up some extra copies of the handouts if anyone is interested.
Disclaimer: these are my notes and have not been checked for accuracy. For the most accurate information, visit the speakers' websites.
What will Torrico do?
What is at the beginning and end of our problems in public education? Prop. 13. Torrico is introducing a bill that will require periodic reassessment of commercial property. He will also introduce a bill that will insure that money spent on K-12 and higher education keeps pace with inflation.
What can we do?
- Make your voice heard. Write letters. Make phone calls. Jan Crocker, Nancy Thomas, and Ray Rodriguez are going to Sacramento next Monday to hand deliver letters from Newark teachers and parents.
- Send the message to Sacramento that if the legislature decides not to fund COLA they must also take the steps necessary to protect school districts from being on the hook to fund it. If they don’t, the fiscal ramifications are immediate and dire for most districts.
Torrico’s opening remarks
Torrico opened with a quick and simple overview of California’s budget and debt situation. Next he listed California’s assets:
California’s Pluses
- Economic superpower
- 37.5 million people. Incredible diversity. Our people are our greatest strength.
- Silicon Valley leading edge innovation.
Then he told us that our representatives in Sacramento are not hearing from people that things in California are not right. Last year’s budget was 57 days late and people did not complain. Republicans on the budget committee refused to vote even after their demands for a balanced budget had been met until teacher tax credits (for classroom supplies) were eliminated, and tax breaks for yacht purchases and for oil companies were added. These were agreed to in order to solve the budget impasse.
He distilled the issues down to this. Do we want a state that says that we can’t afford the problems of seniors, disabled, and students? Or do we want to be the state that makes sure that everyone has the opportunity to live up to their potential.
Community College and Higher Education update – Trisha Tahmasbi, Trustee, Ohlone College Board http://www.ohlone.edu/org/board/members.html
Most quality jobs that pay well require advanced degrees. 2/3 of CSU grads and 1/3 of UC grads begin their college career at the community college level. The Community College system has 72 districts and 109 campuses. Students who access use the community college system save about $40,000 on their education. Community colleges train over 70% of nurses in California.
She described the deep budget cuts faced by the Community College, CSU, and UC systems. System fees will increase by 7% tuition (UC) 10% (CSU). They have faced fee hikes every year since 2002. Undergraduate tuition has climbed 92% since 2000. Before 1984 Community Colleges did not charge any fees at all. In California’s 1960 master plan we said education would be our number one priority. Things have changed. What is it that we value as a state? By 2013 dept. of corrections budget is forecasted to surpass the higher education budge. In the past 13 years we’ve built 21 new prisons and one new UC campus.
We need to make a commitment to engage in a battle that reshapes our state’s priorities to invest in our future.
Remarks by Jean Ross Executive Director of California Budget Project
http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2008/080207_chartbookmasterbullets.pdf
The good news is that there is an outpouring of interest from around the state about this budget. The rest of the news is gloomy. Her hardcopy presentation does a great job of explaining how we got into this mess and shows some of the options and their impact.
In absolute numbers, this isn’t the largest crisis in our history either in dollars or percentage. However, we have had too many bad years in a row. State is now paying about 3 billion (check this number) a year to repay debt. The “dot com” collapse affected primarily the state budget. This time the downturn in the housing market impacts both state and local govt. About half of property tax revenue goes to schools. Sales tax revenue is also impacted because people have less money to spend. Next year doesn’t look better. This downturn will affect people across the economic spectrum.
In January, there was an estimated $14.5 billion deficit on an overall budget of $100 billion. Last week the Legislative Analyst updated the deficit to $16 billion.
As bad as the proposed cuts are they only close 2/3 of the budget gap. What are the reductions that the governor will use? She covers the big ticket items including K14 education, Medi-Cal, SSI/SSD, early release and parole of prisoners. Medi-Cal plans a particularly Dickensian method of cost reduction: increase the complexity of the paperwork so that fewer claims are filed. Just the K-12 system translates to $786 per student. Every dollar cut from Medi-Cal will cost the state one dollar in federal funds. This in turn will cut dollars paid to health care providers by 10%. Early release of 20,000 prisoners without any access to job training, drug treatment, and housing assistance.
What about the governor’s assertion that California has a spending problem not a budget problem. His Vehicle Licensing Fee (VLF) tax cut equals nearly half of the current deficit.
What’s the role for public and private investment? What do we want for California?
Rick Pratt, Assistant Director, California School Boards Association
http://www.csba.org/TrainingAndEvents/Events/2007/Forecast.aspx
We’re almost $2,000 per student below the national average or about 43~46 out of 50 states. Our class sizes are largest in the nation. Previous budget reductions have not been restored. “low hanging fruit” is gone. Librarians, school nurses, and other “non-essential” programs have already been cut. The next move is to increase class size.
Dr. Bernard
Extemporaneous remarks. Acknowledged the teachers present from the tri-city area. Impact on classrooms is unavoidable. Whatever the governor says in January is what school boards must plan for until the May revise. We have to identify potential cuts and give notification by March 15. we will not know next steps until may revise. Write a letter to the governor. Ray Rodriguez, Jan Crocker and Nancy Thomas will be going to Sacramento next Monday to hand deliver letters written by Newark teachers and parents to the governor. The current budget crisis will be even more devastating if the state eliminates COLA funding but does not freeze COLA. This will leave school districts with another very large unfunded and required budget expense.
Jeff Poe From FUDTA
No COLA! It causes a double jeopardy for school districts. FUSD estimates it would create a shortfall of $9.5million to a fiscally conservative with a healthy budget reserve. Fremont already has a highly transient teaching force because it is too expensive for beginning teachers to live here. If the district were required to fund the entire cost of COLA, it would result in: school transportation eliminated, 180 teachers not hired, 10 students added to every K-3 classroom, increased enrollment in all Special Education classroom. Enrollment in all classes will creep towards 40 students/class. 39 counselors will be let go and FUSD will still be $3M short! They’re putting a 4.5% COLA on us without funding it. It is critical that they don’t do this!
Torrico’s closing remarks
He rejects the premise that cuts must be made. All republicans who come to Sacramento sign a pledge that they won’t raise taxes. This doesn’t jive with the Republican analogies about government being run like a business or family budget. In either of those two scenarios, you not only control spending you also find new revenue! He won’t sign a budget that is balanced on the backs of kids. For every legislator there are ten registered lobbyists. Don’t ever underestimate the power that you have going to Sacramento and having your voice heard. Some of history’s most heroic change agents started with small, “simple” acts: Rosa Parks… Nelson Mandela… Cesar Chavez… Most of us are not heroes of this stature, but collectively if we make our voices heard, if we say that this is not right, if we say that this is improper and immoral, then things will change. Things won’t change unless we do.
