Walter Garcia Kawamoto

 

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SCUSD Budget - Lets not be fooled-Again

The Sacramento Bee reported on Friday that SCUSD budget had again been disapproved by the County Office of Education.  

“County schools officials last month disapproved Sacramento City Unified’s adopted budget because the district — although making “considerable progress towards stabilizing the budget” — fell short of meeting its minimum reserve requirement by $27 million in 2021-22.” 

While accurate, this reporting fails to deal with several of the key issues in the  school budget.  First notice that last year we were consistently told that SCUSD was on the brink of bankruptcy. Over 100 teachers were laid  off. Several moved to other districts.  At the end of the year, the district had almost no deficit.  It has begun the year with at least 60 teacher positions not filled- most are filled by substitutes.  This increases school failure.   See here. https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article235971252.html

If you read the report, the district will meet its budget requirements and reserve requirements for this year and next.  – But- oh crisis !  They will not have enough in reserve in the third year. 

The action by the County Office of Education and Superintendent Gordon is a political attack.  Gordon has been singing this song since the Reagan Administration. SCOE reports criticize the teaches union but do not criticize the size and competence of the SCUSD administration. 

The policy positions urged by Gordon are classic claims of austerity.  An official claims to be objective and announces  a budget crisis and then  proposes cut back ( that is reduction in education opportunities) as the only solution. In reality, the economic crisis is half baked and the there are other solutions, such as having the giant corporations like Amazon pay their taxes.  Some, not all, of these solutions would require state legislation.  There will be an item on the ballot in 2020 to raise taxes to adequately fund the schools. https://schoolsandcommunitiesfirst.org

In the meantime, readers should be skeptical of pronouncements from SCOE and Gordon. They are engaged in a public campaign to blame teachers for the inadequate funding of our schools.  This is a persistent effort of promoting a viewpoint called neoliberalism. 

Here is a summary of the neoliberal viewpoint in finance.

Charter School Advocates Spend Heavily to Gain Control of County Board of Education.

BY DIANA LAMBErt, The Sacramento Bee

dlambert@sacbee.com

Charter school advocates have spent nearly $300,000 backing candidates for three seats on the board of the Sacramento County Office of Education, positions that once were considered sleepy political outposts.

Besides providing oversight for Sacramento County school districts, the education board reviews the charters of countywide charter school systems and hears appeals from charter schools whose applications have been rejected by local school districts.

In recent years, the California Charter Schools Association has emerged as a major player in supporting candidates for the board. This year, the advocacy group has focused its donations on three candidates: Joanne Ahola, who works for the association; Heather Davis, who is married to Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis, an employee of the charter schools group; and Roy Grimes, a former county education board member challenging an incumbent who has voted against reauthorizing charter schools.

Carlos Marquez, senior political director for the Charter Schools Association, said it views the Sacramento County Office of Education as “a really strong safeguard, a strong backstop for (preventing) politically motivated denials (of charter schools) at the local level.”

“We are happy with the board,” he added. “It’s really important right now that we maintain continuity.”

The county Office of Education has so far chartered five schools – all part of a network operated by Margaret Fortune that focuses on closing the achievement gap between African American and other students. Fortune recently finished serving as a California State University trustee and was an adviser for former Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis.