News Impacting CA School Districts Through July 30
Federal News
California will join 17 other states and the District of Columbia as finalists in the competition for $3.4 billion in Race to the Top money. Thirty-five states had applied in the second round. Between 10 and 15 states are expected to be awarded money, so, depending on where California is in the standings, California could come away with all or some of the $700 million it is seeking.
Sacramento News
Day 30 and counting with no signs of state budget. Once again, Governor Schwarzenegger threatens to not a sign a budget unless there is legislation to curtail public pensions and change California’s taxation and budgeting systems.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown unveiled an education reform plan that calls for a wholesale restructuring of California’s public school system, from changing the way schools are funded to revamping the state’s higher education system.
Reforming State and Local Governance
Opponents of Proposition 14 filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court seeking to block the state from transitioning to a “top two” primary system. The lawsuit targets Senate Bill 6, the bill implementing the “top-two’ primary system that was approved with 53.8 percent of the vote in the June primary.
School District Impacts
Reductions to K-12 funding by State are beginning to show up in the classrooms as numerous school districts adopt a shortened school year for 2010/11.
As the August 6th deadline approaches, numerous school districts have made decisions about passing a parcel tax or bond measure on the November ballot. West Contra Costa, John Swett, East Side and Oakland among some of the districts who approved placing a parcel tax measure this week. Santa Rosa and Dublin decide to wait.
News Impacting CA School Districts Through July 23
Sacramento News
Debt service is now about 6 percent of the state’s $86 billion general fund budget, more than twice what it was a decade ago according to the Legislative Analyst Office. This trend is causing the Governor and the Legislature to consider removing the Water Bond Measure in November and also could reduce the placement of future State school facilities bonds that are used for local school districts for matching purposes.
School District Impacts
The first week of August is the deadline for school boards to place a parcel tax or bond measure on the November ballot. For those school districts considering bond measure they should review the specifics of the measure to avoid nasty accusations from taxpayers. In addition, boards may want to review the bidding process for repairs to roofs to insure a competitive process.
News Impacting CA School Districts Through July 16
Federal News
Demand is far out pacing resources in one hot segment of the education innovation market, as districts, schools, and nonprofit organizations pitch reform proposals worth $12.8 billion for competitive grants to be awarded under the federal Investing in Innovation Fund, or “i3”—nearly 20 times what the U.S. Department of Education has available. The $650 million competition financed by the economic-stimulus package drew 1,698 applicants by the May 12 application deadline, creating a wish list that ranges from a $22,282 proposal to improve students’ writing in Connecticut’s Preston district to a $50 million plan to expand the Teach For America corps.
Sacramento News
The California State Board of Education declared an emergency in 1,000 public schools the state has designated as among the lowest performing in the state. The law sets out a timeline allowing parents to apply to transfer their children to schools in other districts by Jan. 1 preceding the school year they wish to transfer. But the state board wants the law implemented immediately, to allow students who wish to enroll in other districts by November 1, rather than the fall of 2011, as the law seemed to envisage.
As if California doesn’t have enough to deal with, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has opened up a new front in the education and political wars: He wants to abolish the office of the superintendent of public instruction.
Reforming State and Local Governance
A 17-page CalPERS sales brochure told legislators a decade ago that a major increase in state worker pension benefits would not increase state costs, but annual state payments to the pension fund have soared from $159 million to $3.9 billion since then. Contribution from school districts have grown from $0 to $1.2 billion.
School District Impacts
Just as education experts are encouraging more classroom time to improve student grades and test scores, many California districts are moving in the opposite direction by shortening their school year amid a sustained and draining budget crisis. Of the state’s 30 largest school districts, 16 are reducing the number of days in the academic year, according to a survey by California Watch. The changes are expected to affect about 1.4 million students in these districts alone.
A five-year parcel tax to generate money for San Diego schools will go before voters in November, potentially reigniting a dispute between business and labor. The parcel tax would cost single-family homeowners $98 a year. Apartment and condominium owners would pay $60 per unit. Low-income senior citizens would be exempt from the tax. Commercial and industrial properties would pay a flat yearly tax of $450 under a scaled-back version of the original plan, which would have charged nonresidential parcels based on size and development up to $25,000.
With no news on the final details of state budget, school districts like Hayward made the difficult decision to suspend preschool programs.
News Impacting CA School Districts Through July 9
Federal News
“Keep Our Educators Working Act” which was passed by the House faces some tough sliding ahead. California stands to receive $1.2 billion for K-12 schools. However, the Senate needs to find cuts in federal spending and President Obama threatens to veto since it also contains $800 million in cuts to his reform initiatives, including a whack out of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund.
Sacramento News
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a new demand that a specific change in state worker pensions be made before he signs off on a budget. At a minimum, the governor said he wants legislators to roll back current pension terms to those that existed before 1999 legislation created more generous rules.
School District Impacts
After loss of a parcel tax election in largest California school district, Los Angeles Unified School District,the second largest school district is considering a parcel tax election. The San Diego Unified School District has proposed a parcel tax for the November ballot to help pay for teachers, protect class sizes and maintain education programs. It would generate $58 million annually over five years. If the measure is placed on the ballot and approved by voters, single-family homeowners would be charged $98 annually while condominium and apartment owners would be taxed $60 per unit. Low-income seniors would be exempt. Commercial and industrial properties would be taxed based on parcel size, ranging from $450 for parcels up to 25,000 square feet and $25,000 for those more than 250,000 square feet.
Benicia Unified School District staff and a consultant are crafting a resolution in favor of a parcel tax between $49 and $59 annually after failing in two prior attempts. In 2004, Measure S for a $105 annual parcel tax just missed the two-thirds mark with only 64.6 percent voting yes. Two years later, Measure I for a $254 annual parcel tax failed with only 53 percent support.
News Impacting CA School Districts Through July 2
Sacramento News
The California Department of Education posted the 14 school districts (12 from first interim) were assigned negative certification and 160 school districts (114 from second interim) were assigned qualified certification for the second interim posted in March, 2010. The number is only going to larger as state funding continues to decline.
Reforming State and Local Governance
The Secretary of State has assigned numbers to the statewide initiatives for the November ballot. For school districts looking to run a parcel tax campaign on the November, some consideration of the type of turnout these propositions will bring in your school district needs to be factored into your decision making.
School District Impacts
Once again school districts have to approve their annual budgets without any idea what the State budget will look like. In Fremont, they were able to approve a budget after reaching a tentative agreement with employee groups that sees class size increase to 28 for K-3 and six furlough days. The Capistrano Unified School District approved a budget that wiped out class size reduction in K-3 entirely, raising class size to 31.5.