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| | CUCPTSA February 2010 Newsletter Posted by Admin on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 05:46 AM
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|  LOCAL
CUSD Budget
Due to the Governor’s January budget proposal, the CUSD budget deficit for the 2010/2011 school year is now approx $34 million, an increase of $12.5 million than earlier projected.
The CUSD budget has already been cut by $55 million in the last two school years. Per student funding is now approximately the same as it was in the 2005/2006 school year. The next interim report will be submitted to OCDE in March leading to budget adoption by the end of June. The CUSD Board is continuing to attempt to identify cuts from the 2010/2011 budget. Midyear cuts are still unknown. At recent board meetings, only approx $11 million in potential cuts had been identified.
These include:
• Elimination of Grade 1 CSR
• Elimination of International Baccalaureate (IB) program
• Elimination of Block Music
• Elimination of high school resident subs
• Elimination of K-8 summer school
• Elimination of athletics programs
• Elimination of activities programs
Negotiations (PTA REMAINS NEUTRAL AT ALL TIMES)
CUEA (Teachers) - Fact Finding failed to reach an agreement on January 26. A written report will be issued within 30 days.
• The fact finding panel consisted of 3 people (CUSD appointee - John Rajcic, CUEA appointee - Christine Balentine, and a neutral chairperson - Bonnie Castrey agreed upon by both parties)
• The panel members met in private over 2 days to evaluate the positions and data provided by both sides.
• Within 30 days a written report must be issued containing findings of fact and non-binding recommendations. After receiving the report, CUSD must make it public within 10 days. This report is advisory only and non-binding.
• During the 40 days, both parties are encouraged to continue to negotiate. If they still do not
come to an agreement, the Board will determine whether to implement the recommendations from the Fact Finder, implement with modifications or implement their last and best final offer.
CSEA (Classified Staff) – No updates.
Teamsters – No updates.
Special Board Meeting – February 2, 2010
The purpose of the meeting was to plan the search process and establish a timeline for hiring a permanent superintendent. The goal is to have a superintendent by June who can lead CUSD for the next 5-10 years. On February 16 and 17, trustees, Dr. Mahler, and a variety of community/staff input groups were interviewed to develop a profile and collect data. By early March, the profile report and criteria development will be complete. In April, a slate of 5-7 candidates will be presented to the trustees, who will then interview each of them. By late April, the final 3 candidates will be selected, and by early May a decision will be made.
Open Enrollment
• Applications must be submitted between February 1 and February 26.
• A list of schools with openings is available and requests may only be made for schools on the list.
• Parents will be notified beginning April 9, and will not be able to rescind their request.
• Students approved for open enrollment must attend their school of choice for one full year.
• Applications can be submitted again beginning May 3 using a revised list of schools with openings.
• All 2010/2011 open enrollment guidelines, timeline, and information can be found on the CUSD website.
• All decisions are final and wait lists will not be maintained.
Summer School
• Special Education summer school will continue as usual.
• Grades K-9: no general education summer school
• Grades 10-12: credit recovery option will be available
School Board Meeting – February 9, 2010
Gayle Paride was recognized for her work in Parent Education and Support.
Two-Way Language Immersion Middle School Program: The trustees voted 7-0 to approve the continuation of this program that currently exists at San Juan Elementary & Las Palmas at Marco Forster MS in grades 6-8.
Ballot Measure Changing the Way CUSD Trustees are Elected
The parent group that submitted the petition to change the way trustees are elected asked that the initiative be placed on the November ballot rather than in June due to the cost involved and the threat of a lawsuit by the CUSD Board of Trustees. The OC Committee on School District Organization held a public hearing Wednesday, February 10, at the district office to reevaluate the June election date. A motion was made to adopt a resolution to reset the date of election to November 2, 2010.
STATE
State Budget
On Friday, January 8, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled an $82.9 billion state spending plan. The governor is proposing a three-part deficit-closing solution:
• $8.5 billion in spending cuts
• $4.5 billion in "revenue shifts," some of which were rejected by voters last year
• $6.9 billion in additional money from the federal government
Unfortunately, the Federal Budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2011 provides only $1.5 billion for California. While Gov. Schwarzenegger has sent a letter to the California Congressional delegation asking for more federal money, he has also listed further cuts to the State Budget proposal to cover the missing federal funds. The proposed cuts include:
1. Eliminate CalWORKs
2. Reduce Medi-Cal eligibility to federal minimum and eliminate some optional benefits.
3. Eliminate the In Home Supportive Services program.
4. Eliminate Healthy Families Program, which provide health care for children in poor families.
The State Legislature is currently in a 45 day special session to address the $19.9 billion budget deficit and keep it from growing.
Proposed Cuts to K-12 Education and Proposition 98
Proposition 98 funding is reduced by $892.6 million in 2009-10 by making cuts to:
• Funding for the K-3 Class Size Reduction Program ($340 million)
• General purpose funds for school districts and county offices of education ($229.3 million)
• Proposition 98 funding for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Juvenile Justice Division and State Special Schools ($17.8 million)
• Categorical funding ($14.3 million)
In addition, Proposition 98 funding is reduced by $1.540 billion in 2010-11 in the following areas:
• Funding for school district administration ($1.2 billion)
• K-3 Class Size Reduction Program due to fewer districts enacting the program ($550 million)
• Allowing contracting out of county and district administrative functions ($330 million)
• Revenue Limit and Categorical funding reductions ($229.5 million) due to lower ADA, retirement costs, COLAs, etc.
• Funding for county education office due to consolidation requirements ($45 million)
• Department of Corrections and Juvenile Justice rehabilitation funding ($23.4 million)
• Suspend payments for most K-12 mandates
The Governor also proposes to:
• Give school districts the ability to lay off, assign, reassign, transfer, and rehire teachers without regard to seniority.
• Repeal statutes requiring that laid off teachers received first priority for substitute assignments. In addition, modify the law requiring that these teachers be paid at their prior salary level after working 20 days as a substitute.
• Establish a 60 day clock after the adoption of the State Budget for school districts to notify teachers of lay-off. Current law requires that teachers be notified by March 15 of potential lay-off for the next school year.
• Continue to allow school districts to shorten the school year by up to 5 days (175 days total) through 2012-13.
Proposed Ballot Initiative
The Governor has proposed a Constitutional Amendment ballot measure which would require the state to spend no more than 7 percent of general fund money on corrections and no less than 10 percent on the University of California and California State University systems. In 2009-10, the state is spending 5.7 percent of general fund money on UC and CSU, compared to 9.5 percent on corrections in the governor's revised budget.
The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) stated on January 26, that lawmakers should reject the proposed ballot measure and lists various reasons why. It says the measure would ignore community colleges, inappropriately pit two program areas against each other, and set arbitrary benchmarks that could hurt spending on other state priorities. The LAO notes that the governor and Legislature already have the ability to prioritize higher education in any given budget year without going to the ballot box.
Update on Race to the Top Funds
Based on the information our Legislative Team members received on our recent trip to Sacramento, it does not look good for California to receive any funds from the federal government in the first round of the Race to the Top funding. Most of the people that we talked to indicated that if California were to receive any RTTT funds, it would likely be in the second round of funding. But remember, we still have the new legislation on the books that was passed in order to bring California in line with the Federal requirements. We will keep an eye on how that will impact state schools and any funding California receives.
Statewide Ballot Measures -- Qualified to be on June 2010 ballot
Proposition 13 -- Constitutional Amendment
SCA 4. (Resolution Chapter 115, 2008), Ashburn.
Property tax: new construction exclusion: seismic retrofitting.
Proposition 14 -- Constitutional Amendment
SCA 4. (Resolution Chapter 2, 2009). Maldonado.
Elections: open primaries. Allows for top two vote getters, regardless of party, to compete in the General Election.
Proposition 15 -- Statute
AB 583. (Chapter 735, 2008). Hancock.
Political Reform Act of 1974: California Fair Elections Act of 2008.
Proposition 16 -- Initiative Constitutional Amendment
1369. (09-0015) - Random Sample - Updated as of January 12, 2010
New Two-Thirds Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providers.
Proposition 17 -- Initiative Statute
1381. (09-0028) - Random Sample - Updated as of January 20, 2010
Allows Auto Insurance Companies to Base Their Prices in Part on a Driver's History of Insurance Coverage.
November 2010 Qualified Statewide Ballot Measure
Bond Measure
SBx7 2. (Chapter 3, 2009), Cogdill.
Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010
There are 74 initiatives and referenda that have been cleared for circulation and proponents have until April 16 to file the petition with county election officials (i.e. turn in the signatures). Then the signature verification process begins.
Some of the pending initiatives:
• Changes State Budget Process in Several Ways. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute. (California Forward)
• Allows Voters to Place Question of Calling a Constitutional Convention on the Ballot. (Repair California)
• Calls a Limited Convention to Propose Changes to State Constitution. (Repair California)
• Changes Voter Approval Requirement for Local Education Special Taxes to 55% from Two-Thirds so Long as Accountability Requirements Met.
• Changes Legislative Vote Requirement to Pass a Budget from Two-Thirds to a Simple Majority. Retains Two-Thirds Vote Requirement for Taxes.
• Changes California Law to Legalize Marijuana and Release Non-Violent Marijuana Offenders from Jail.
Governance Reform
There are two major influences outside the legislative process that have been dominating the reform conversation: California Forward (www.caforward.org) and Repair California (www.repaircalifornia.org)
Both groups have submitted two initiatives that have been cleared for signature gathering:
California Forward’s are:
1. Best Practices Budget Accountability Act
2. Community Funding Protection and Accountability Act
Repair California’s are:
1. Allows Voters to Place Question of Calling a Constitutional Convention on the Ballot
2. Calls a Limited Convention to Propose Changes to State Constitution
Repair California announced on February 12 that they were putting the campaign on hold due to a lack of cash on hand. However, if significant new funds arrive by March 1, Repair California will continue the campaign.
There is also a legislative committee that has been formed on governance reform. That committee has held a series of hearings around the state, to gather data and ideas and will be coming out with some proposals within the coming months.
Update on Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor nominee, Abel Maldonado, cleared the Senate but did not get enough “Yes” votes from the Assembly to confirm him on Feb 12th. After some high drama, the Governor withdrew his nomination and then re-nominated him. The legislature has another 90 days to either confirm or reject him.
California Education Secretary Resigns
Glen Thomas, appointed California’s Secretary of Education by Gov. Schwarzenegger in January, 2009, resigned Tuesday in order to take care of his elderly mother. His final date in office has not been set, but the search for his replacement has begun.
The Education Secretary serves as the governor’s senior advisor and representative on school issues. A number of individuals have circulated through this position recently.
State PTA News
State PTA believes that now is the time for action to help California’s 9 million children. California State PTA, with almost 1 million members statewide, is leading the call for action with two important initiatives.
Here is a brief look at what’s planned.
1. PTA Opposes Additional Cuts in Governor’s Proposed Budget for 2010-2011 Shortly, California State PTA’s “9 Million Reasons To Speak Up for Children” campaign details will be released. This is focused on assisting PTA members to speak up for the 9 million children in California who need our voice to be heard in opposition to further cuts to education and critical children’s services.
2. PTA SUPPORTS Qualifying the “Local Control of Local Classrooms Funding Act” for November
2010 Ballot
On January 30, the California State PTA officially endorsed the “Local Control of Local Classrooms Funding Act.” If qualified for the November 2010 ballot and approved by voters, the proposed Act would lower the threshold for passage of local school funding measures to 55 percent (just like school bond measures), from the current two-thirds, provided certain conditions are met. PTA members are being urged to sign the petition to qualify this measure for the ballot at www.improvedschoolfunding.com and to actively participate in gathering the approximately 1 million signatures that the measure needs to qualify by early April. More information will arrive shortly with guidance on PTA participation in this important process
FEDERAL
White House Budget Proposal
President Obama released his budget proposal for the 2011 fiscal year, which included some increased funding for education. The additional funds are allocated to ESEA ($3 billion increase), Race to the Top Program ($1.35 billion) and the Investing in Innovation Fund ($500 million). However, data released by the Department of Education states that California will receive nearly $130 million less under the 2011 budget proposal than it will in 2010.
State of the Union
President Obama discussed the importance of amending and reauthorizing ESEA, and also called for Congress to pass the Jobs for Main Street Act to save and create teaching jobs in education. Obama also discussed the link between an educated nation and a strong economy.
Jobs for Main Street Act
In December the House passed a version of the bill that included a variety of job stimulus programs, including a $23 billion plan to save teacher jobs. The Senate version of this bill will not be voted on until February 22 when Congress returns from President's Week recess, but early reports indicate that the Senate version will not include education funding.
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