Education leaders jointly oppose trailer bill mandates on reserve funding
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The state’s top educational management organizations, including ACSA, CASBO, CCSESA, CSBA, San Diego Unified School District, Fresno Unified School District, Los Angeles County Office of Education, Clovis Unified School District, Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Ontario-Montclair School District, California Association of Suburban Schools, Sacramento City Unified School District, the California School Finance Reform Coalition and School Services of California are jointly expressing their strong opposition to proposed trailer bill language pertaining to the levels of budget reserves school districts are currently maintaining.
The trailer bill imposes several requirements on school districts adopting a budget with a reserve greater than the minimum required for economic uncertainties and an absolute cap on reserves the first fiscal year funds are placed into the Public Sector Stabilization Account. If approved, the requirements would go into effect beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015-16.
This proposal is fiscally irresponsible, inconsistent with the principal of subsidiarity, which serves as the foundation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), and discounts the critical role that prudent budget reserves play in the ability of school districts to maintain fiscal solvency. In addition, it fails to recognize numerous factors going into district decisions on reserve levels, while ignoring recent history with regard to how districts used budget reserves during the great recession to avoid even greater cuts to educational programs, and certificated and classified staff reductions.
The language in this bill forces districts to spend reserves above a three percent minimum, or prove to lawmakers why prudent fiscal solvency matters in their districts.
This proposal is counterproductive to the concept of subsidiarity, a core principle of the LCFF. Education funding decisions are determined locally, not at the state level. By adopting this language, lawmakers are taking funds and control from school districts, thereby impacting programs and staff. In essence, lawmakers are playing with money earmarked to teach students.
We recommend lawmakers remove this trailer bill language from any and all decisions being made inside the State Capitol. We want to be good partners in establishing a system that works for all the parties. The existence of this language is counterproductive to the locally-controlled reforms just put into place less than a year ago.
About CSBA
The California School Boards Association (CSBA) is the non-profit education association representing the elected officials who govern public school districts and county offices of education. With a membership of nearly 1,000 educational agencies statewide, CSBA brings together school district governing boards and county boards of education to advocate for effective policies that advance the education and well-being of the state’s more than 6 million school-age children. CSBA provides policy resources and training to members, and represents the statewide interests of public education through legal, political legislative, community and media advocacy.
###