Fund Schools, and Reform Sacramento

There has been a lot of talk recently about school "reform." The state legislature has been rushing to pass reform measures in order to get its hands on a small amount of money from the federal government through the "Race to the Top" program. The amount of money at stake for most schools in California from RTTT is quite small.

Meanwhile, the Governor has proposed additional reductions to school funding that would reduce per pupil spending in California by another $200. Tami Gunther, a trustee of the Atascadero Unified School District, wrote the following commentary. I think it speaks to the great sacrifices that California schools have made over the past few years. In fact, our schools have done quite a lot to solve the state's budget crisis while continuing to provide quality education for our children.

"I think the reform most needed right now is not in our schools, but at the state level in our Assembly and Senate.

"North San Luis Obispo County school districts have had to absorb a decrease in funding of approximately 20 percent over the past two years. Our students have already seen reduced access to counselors, psychologists and nurses. They will be using older textbooks and have less time in the library. They are seeing much larger class sizes, they receive less help from their teachers since classroom aides have been cut and they will no longer have summer school to help with problem subjects.

"We have all cut transportation, administration and maintenance. Sports, music, drama, science and other electives have all seen reductions or even elimination. We are not talking about starting new 'reforms,' we're just trying to maintain the programs we already have that are working.

"Sacramento needs to stop talking about reforming our schools and get to work reforming the way decisions are made in our Capitol. Our local schools have already done more than our share to solve the state’s budget problems without having to bear the burden of yet another reform sent down by legislators who have lost touch with local reality."

Unfortunately, we are being asked once again to sacrifice programs in our school due to the state's budget crisis. Our children will suffer the consequences of whatever bad choices we end up having to make as we formulate our budget for the next two years.

(originally posted 1/26/2010)