Education — 7 comments
14
Feb 10

RWC Mid-Year Cuts: unfortunately just the beginning

The Redwood City School Board met on 2/10/2010 to discuss recommendations for mid-year cuts. The meeting was very well attended, very long and incredibly emotional. After 1 hour of various unrelated business, we got into the meat of things. Raul repeated his excellent presentation which clearly explains the deplorable financial situation of school districts around our State (If you have not seen it, read it now: Special Board Meeting Mid-Year Cut 2.3.10).  And there were some small updates from the previous week: incredibly, the situation is looking even more grim now and we’re projecting a higher shortfall than before due to new information from Sacramento.

In the next section of the meeting people had the chance to address the Board. Many people spoke, concerned about the various cuts currently under way. We heard from teachers, parents, staff and even a principal. There was crying, there was yelling, there were some accusations, but by and large the speakers were polite and made their points eloquently. Most of the comments had to do with the removal of teachers from classrooms in the middle of the year and the impact on kids, specially Kindergartners. 8th graders from McKinley made a statement in support of their math teacher, soon to be laid off.

The Board members listened stoically, saving their responses and commentary for the end. When that time came they asked the administrators for some clarifications, discussed the situation and eventually voted to approve the cuts as proposed. (I left at 11:30PM before the vote took place.)

I don’t envy them at all. Their job is to be responsible adults and keep our School District functioning under extremely adverse circumstances. They all pointed out that none of these cuts are good and that we’re making them because we really have no choice. And they reminded us that given the financial outlook, these cuts are just the first, a small sample of the cuts that are coming.

Why Mid-Year Cuts?

Basically, because the district has no choice. The district has to maintain a 3% cash reserve to avoid being taken over by the State. Current cash reserves are around 3.69%. The State Controller has warned that California might not have enough money to pay salaries in the months ahead and the district might need some of the reserves for that. And the situation can get even worse if the State decides to impose a mid-year cut retroactively like they did at the end of last year. Cuts made now also mean fewer cuts to be made for next year’s budget although this is little consolation as we expect massive cuts then regardless.

So, cuts need to be made. What can get cut? In Redwood City not much. The district has already been cutting every year to reach our current situation where 85% of the budget goes to salaries. At this point any non trivial cuts require reducing staff.

And because of various contracts the district has very little choice of who can get cut in the middle of the year. The jargon here is a bit confusing for outsiders like me, but my understanding is that the district can’t lay off teachers when they’ve been employed for 75% of the school year, which requires cuts to happen very soon. “Temporary teachers” get chosen first. Their positions can be filled with teachers that currently work in the district but outside the classrooms. And it seems we’re even lucky in Redwood City that we have other teachers that can take over.

What are the Cuts?

The cuts and some of the rationale is outlined in this letter from the superintendent. You can see them here as well. For each cut, the first number is how much we save this year followed by how much we save the following year:

  • 9 temporary classroom teachers: 261K/764K. Positions to be back filled by credentialed teachers in the district but not currently working within the classroom.
  • 1 accountant: 23K/87K. The administration would pick up extra work.
  • 5 custodians: 67K/256K. Currently school classrooms are on an ABC schedule, cleaned every 3 days. Now they will be cleaned once a week. Restrooms, cafeterias and nurses’ rooms will be cleaned every day.
  • Reduce RSP instructional aides to 3 hours: 60K/229K. Impacts 25 employees in the district.
  • 1 office manager at Roosevelt: 23K/55K. This is a vacant position.
  • 1 system manager, position currently vacant: 39K/105K.
  • 1 classroom teacher at Newcomer: 82K/82K.
  • Plato learning program: 25K/25K.
  • Freeze budget for library books and materials: 23K/31K.

The district is still hoping to reduce the work year for all employees by 5 days, for a possible further reduction this year of 1.3 million. Negotiations are at an impasse with the teacher’s union. Mediation will begin on March 17th. The union notified the district they won’t move until mediation takes place.

The following were originally considered for mid year cuts but were rejected at this point: these will not be cut right now:

  • Increase class sizes to 31 at grades K-3.
  • 1 transportation dispatcher.
  • 10.7 library aides.

Of course, we expect all these to be cut at the end of the year as possibly the deepest cuts in recent memory are expected, their magnitude depending on the level of funding supplied by the State.  As always, our dysfunctional State won’t be able to pass the budget in reasonable time and the school district will be required to make worst case cuts in advance of next school year. And now the projected shortfall has grown, to between 4.7 and 13.7 million dollars.

Raul noted that current funding is about the same of 2006/2007 but we now serve 1000 more students. We reduced our budget by 17% in the last three years. Per student funding went from 5500 per year to 4700 per year in 2009/2010. The situation is expected to get worse in the next few years. The public education system is being dismantled in front of our very eyes. Continue reading →

Education — 9 comments
30
Jan 10

For public schools it’s back to basics

The yearly budget cuts season is now in full swing in Redwood City, and everywhere else in our beleaguered California school system. Budget cuts have been a yearly occurrence, with Redwood City making cuts in 8 of the last 9 years. But this year is special: the usual reduction in funds from the State of California is combined with the lack of a new stimulus from the Federal Government. Last year’s stimulus funds allowed our district to save half of the programs slated to be cut. The district had made a long prioritized list of everything that could conceivably be cut, totaling around 10 million dollars, and around half of the items were saved by the stimulus. This year, no stimulus and even less money from Sacramento means we’re facing cuts between 5 and 10 million dollars.

This last week I attended one of the parent meetings with district officials. Jan Christensen, our superintendent, tellingly started the presentation by describing what schools were like in the eighteen hundreds. Think of the school in “Little House on the Prairie”: one big room, full of kids, one teacher, bare bones, no special programs, no frills. The message seemed pretty clear: for next year and on, think “back to basics”. We’ll continue to have public schools, safe clean places for learning. We’ll continue having devoted, heroic teachers, striving to teach our kids to the best of their abilities. And our kids will learn, just like they did back then. But that’s it. We can no longer expect from the public school system those features we’ve taken for granted for so long and which have been vanishing in front of our very eyes these past few years.

My daughter started Middle School this year. Last year there was an extra period with cool “enrichment” activities: art, dance, drama, even TV production. Last year’s cuts did away with many of these, so this year’s 6th graders did not have the same options as their predecessors. Year after year we see programs removed. And it hurts. The knowledge that my second daughter, only 2 years younger than her sister, will have a poorer education experience is hard to take.

So, what are the cuts our district will very likely have to make this year? First, here’s a list of the School District’s priorities, as outlined by Jan in the meeting:

  1. Student achievement. Keep the students learning. Prepare them for high school where they’ll be competing with kids from more affluent school districts.
  2. Safety. Provide a safe, clean environment for learning.
  3. Compliance, Rules and Regulations. The District needs to comply with a large set of rules and regulations if it wants to keep its funding from the State and Federal Government.
  4. Solvency. The School District cannot run deficits and is required by State law to maintain a 3% cash reserve.

Unfortunately solvency rules this year. The district already spends around 85% of its funds on salaries. The required cuts are so high again this year that we won’t be able to avoid reducing the work force. So, what do I think we’ll be cutting?

  • Everything we did not cut last year from our prioritized list of possible cuts. This includes the GATE program, IB program, music in the middle schools, outdoor education and much, much more, nurses, psychologists, support staff, etc.
  • The school year will be shortened by 5 days. This is one way to save money without laying off teachers. I assume it will happen in spite of opposition from the Teacher’s Union and us, the parents. (Note that a proposal to cut the school year by 5 days this year was already rejected by the Teacher’s Union).
  • Class size reduction will be over, everywhere: all schools and all grades. All classes will have 31 students. Fewer teachers will be needed to teach the same number of kids. Kindergarten classes with 31 kids will hurt those kids that don’t arrive prepared with Pre School experience. Tragically, teachers won’t have time to make sure no kids are left behind. The benefits of small class size, specially in the first few years are well understood.
  • Fewer administrators, resulting in lower levels of service. Principals will be required to take on other jobs, the district office won’t be as responsive as before. Administrative processes will suffer. There will be slower turn around times for non emergency services.
  • Closing a school site. There’s serious discussion of moving Orion to Roosevelt and renting out the Orion campus for extra revenue. This could happen as soon as next year.

What good things can we look forward to then? Here’s a list of possibilities, in decreasing order of probability… Continue reading →

Education — No comments
09
Jan 10

Welcome to the 2010 School Budget Cuts Season!

Another year, another round of potentially devastating budget cuts for our Redwood City public schools. This just in, from the School District:

Dear Parent Leaders,

Last year the Redwood City School District faced the worst budget cuts in many decades. Due to the state budget crisis, the district was forced to cut $5.5 million from the 2009-10 budget, including administrators, teachers, counselors, and clerical staff.  Class sizes increased at the K-3 level, and library hours were reduced.  About $5 million more would have been cut, but the federal stimulus package allowed the district to save a number of programs including instrumental music, and the Gifted and Talented Program (GATE), and a number of important staff positions.

The news from Sacramento remains grim.  The state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office projects a state budget shortfall of $6.3 billion for 2009-2010, and a $14.7 billion shortfall for 2010-11.  We do not yet know the full extent of the impact on our district from this latest bad news, but it is very possible that the state will impose mid-year cuts for the current school year.  If the state imposes mid-year cuts, our district will have to eliminate programs and positions during this school year.

In addition, we will have to cut $5-8 million dollars from the 2010-11 budget.  There is no pleasant way to communicate such bad news, but it is important for you to know the challenges that lie ahead.  Keeping our community informed of budget developments is a top priority, so we have planned a series of interactive community budget meetings for January and February to provide a budget update, and answer questions.

Please feel free to attend one of our regular community forums:

Date/Time: Location
January 19, 6-8PM: Garfield School, 3600 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park
January 25, 6-8PM: MIT/North Star, 400 Duane St., Redwood City
February 8, 6-8PM: Roy Cloud School, 3790 Red Oak Way, Redwood City
February 16, 6-8PM: Clifford School, 225 Clifford Ave., Redwood City

Sincerely, Jan Christensen
Superintendent

It’s good that we’re starting to discuss next year’s situation earlier this year. Typically we go through a very quiet time until the end of the year panic. Last year we faced huge cuts, partially mitigated by the stimulus package, which sadly won’t be available next year.

Related public education news

In San Mateo County residents in need would fare worst under budget proposal the San Mateo County Times reports that…

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget would have the most impact on low-income San Mateo County families and others who rely on some form of government assistance, while schools have a chance to emerge unscathed, officials and lawmakers said Friday.

I’ll have to see it to believe it. The part about remaining unscathed. Raul Parungao, RCSD’s chief administrator is quoted in the article:

“It’s pretty encouraging,” said Raul Parungao, chief business official for the Redwood City School District. “But we are still proceeding with caution.”

Parungao recalled how school districts endured many changes in the fiscal landscape last year after the governor announced his budget plan. Even after the governor signed the budget for 2009-10, Parungao said, Schwarzenegger made a revision in July that resulted in some funding loss for education.

The Redwood City district still faces cuts of at least $4.7 million in 2010-11, according to Parungao. That’s largely because the $6.1 million in one-time federal stimulus money the district received will be used up, he said.

I’ll keep reporting as more news emerge. Happy New Year!

Internet / Technology — No comments
20
Dec 09

CDs are no more, they have ceased to be…

The real day was a long time ago, when finally we all realized the physical CD serves no purpose whatsoever. How about the art, the booklet, you may ask? Turns out you leaf through them the first time, rip the CD into iTunes and never look at it again. And then you end up with a huge pile of plastic that takes valuable space in your house. With the convenience of iTunes, Amazon’s MP3 store, and others, there’s no longer any reason to have physical CDs, unless of course, some retrograde music industry executive or group forces your hand. As Rolling Stone pointed out, the Beatles Remastered 2009 CD set is probably the last physical CD you’ll ever buy. It was for me.

CDs in Storage Boxes

CDs prepare for their new life in storage

So, today was the day to run through all those CDs and put them into boxes, by category, sorted within each category. That was fun! The process resulted in a large pile of CDs not even worthy of their new backup-in-the-basement role. Some can probably be given away, most others will end up in the garbage.

Another side effect of this epic development: removing from our 18 year old stereo any component that is not directly involved with playing music from iTunes via AirTunes. That is, the tape deck and the CD player carrousel are Gone, Gone, Gone. Only the amplifier, speakers and connection to AirTunes remain. The cabinet that hosted all those components is now too big and will soon go meet them wherever it is these obsolete but noble devices end up.

It’s all part of the trend shared with eBooks: more and more annoyance at the environmental impact of having to produce these physical items.

Politics — No comments
06
Dec 09

Obama dissapoints now and the Democrats will pay in the next elections

Obama has been in power long enough to show that Obama the President is not Obama the candidate. With the promised “change” coming in extremely small doses, Obama has now effectively squandered the enthusiasm that brought him to power. And the Democratic party will pay in the 2010 elections. This graph says it all:

From a poll by DailyKOS

From a poll by DailyKOS

Progressives like me are getting increasingly disappointed with the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress and sadly, the graph indicates that our window of opportunity will close if we end up with a significant defeat in the upcoming elections. Can you imagine trying to advance the progressive agenda with more Republicans in Congress? I’m having trouble imagining doing that now, when we have absolute majorities everywhere.

Let’s review the current major sources of disappointment…

Continue reading →

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