Vantage Point: Defending education in Sacramento and D.C. 

There’s so much to say, but let me start with this: I could not be more honored and proud to be a member of the fierce band of education activists that came to CSBA’s Legislative Action Conference in Sacramento last month.

Again this year, our focus was on the state budget. Attendees were briefed on the current budget, the governor’s May Revision proposals and how and to what extent the federal stimulus money will affect our school budgets. We learned that, even though education is 40 percent of the budget, it suffered 60 percent of the cuts adopted in February, as well as the same disproportionate amount of the cuts proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his May Revision—even though education spending has grown at a much slower rate than the state general fund over the past 10 years. Staff explained how the state’s cash flow issues, combined with existing and proposed funding deferrals, the economy and Proposition 98, have resulted in a lowering of our base funding while leading legislators to believe that we are fully funded.

School board members came with their own stories of local budget cuts. We heard about:

• heartbreaking layoffs of employees with more than 10 years of service
• elimination of programs for struggling students, including summer school, counseling and
  after-school tutoring
• severe reductions in visual and performing arts, physical education, honors and advanced placement, career and technical education, and special education
• increases in class size including elimination of class-size reduction
• elimination of professional development days

We brought these stories to our representatives in the state Legislature to illustrate how decisions in Sacramento affect the programs and outcomes of our students. We told them that we have already endured more than our fair share of cuts. We reminded them that school employee layoffs have an immediate, negative effect on local economies. We informed them that, although we support categorical program flexibility, it is no substitute for proper funding; districts have already cut core programs, and any further reductions will directly affect classroom instruction.

Voters delivered their own unmistakable message just a day later, in the May 19 special election: They’re not happy with Sacramento. It’s uncertain how our state leaders will manage this crisis, but one thing is certain: Since we as school board members have a stake in what decisions they make, we also have a stake in how those decisions are made. Even in the midst of fiscal disaster, the time for a conversation about state budget and fiscal reform is now.

The bottom-line message bears repeating every chance we get: Schools are an investment we can’t afford to cut.

Federal issues

CSBA’s Federal Issues Council traveled to Washington, D.C., in late April to advocate for California schools. A small delegation of our Board of Directors and staff joined the Executive Committee for three days of meetings with many administration and congressional officials and with other organizations interested in education. We had informative conversations that gave officials in Washington a personal understanding of the educational challenges facing California.

We also heard the confusing message surrounding federal stimulus money: Spend it fast, save jobs, don’t fall off the cliff when the funding is gone in two years, but support long-term reform. Acknowledging our difficult budget situation and the one-time nature of these funds, I still believe that we have been given a unique opportunity to support the infrastructure of reform efforts that can benefit all students, and to think and plan differently. It’s an opportunity that we can’t squander; these funds will not come our way again.