Budget Cuts
Fullerton teacher librarian is last one standing
October 18, 2010 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Yvette Cabrerra, The Orange County Register
In California, as we plod
through this not-so-great recession, there are two kinds of
education-related cost cuts in play – the sexy kind and the
not-so-sexy kind. Any reduction in spending that might crank up the
number of kids in a third-grade classroom, for example, is easy for
parents and other taxpayers to understand. Same for cuts that wipe
out arts classes or PE or, the latest craze, several school days a
year. All those cuts, popular or not, attract attention and debate.
In short, they're sexy. But farther down on the radar is another
kind of cost cutting – the one that wipes out the often stereotyped
resource known as the school librarian...
State's fiscal peril drives $4.5 billion schools re
September 29, 2010 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Fermin
Leal and Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
A revolution is brewing
that could shift control of billions in public education dollars
from the state to local districts – the most fundamental change in
how schools are funded since the state took charge of the system 32
years ago. Both Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman are calling for it.
Parents and local educators demand it. Even Sacramento legislators
tacitly acknowledge it must happen and have begun laying the seeds
for it. It's all about $12 billion scattered across dozens of pots
of money – up to a third of all state school funding – that carry
myriad strings limiting their use to such efforts as special
education, nutrition or school safety...
Capo district workers to take 9.5% pay cut
September 28, 2010 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
All non-teaching,
classified employees in the Capistrano Unified School District will
take an average 9.5 percent pay cut this year under a mutual
agreement expected to be approved Tuesday night by district
trustees. The concessions, totaling $5.3 million, will allow
Capistrano Unified to replenish its rainy-day reserve fund, which
was nearly wiped out last June as trustees struggled to approve a
balanced spending plan for 2010-11. Nearly 2,000 employees who are
members of the California School Employees Association will be
affected...
What would you cut to save money at Capistrano Unified?
February 10, 2009 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
Capistrano Unified
officials on Monday unveiled a series of deep cost-cutting measures
totaling $127 million that starkly illuminate just how aggressively
the district will need to scale back its programs and services in
response to anticipated state funding shortfalls. The measures -
ranging from the complete elimination of the kindergarten program
to laying off all district administrators - were presented to the
school board Monday to show what could legally be stripped from the
district's budget, despite community sentiments. Capistrano's
school board will be tasked this spring with cutting an anticipated
$32 million from the 2009-10 school year budget...
Up to $36 million in budget cuts likely to hit Santa Ana classrooms hard
December 11, 2009 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Fermin Leal, The Orange County Register
Santa Ana Unified may have
to cut $18 million to $36 million from schools this year because of
the state budget crisis, Superintendent Jane Russo said during a
community meeting this morning. Russo spoke to about 50 parents,
community leaders, city administrators, college officials, and
others during the informational meeting aimed at raising community
awareness about how the state's $10 billion budget deficit will
impact local schools...
O.C. school districts targeting $164 million in cuts
December 11, 2009 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Fermin Leal and Scott Martindale, The Orange County
Register At
least five school districts across Orange County will file
preliminary spending plans next week with the county Department of
Education stating that they are unsure they can meet their future
financial obligations. And at least nine districts have already
identified about $164 million in budget cuts for the 2010-11 school
year. More local districts are likely to follow suit, as officials
continue to slash budgets and reassess financial projections amid
the ongoing state budget crisis. (Click here to see our
chart.)...
Capistrano district may not meet financial obligations
December 16, 2009 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
Faced with a $25.1 million
deficit in the 2010-11 school year, Capistrano Unified trustees on
Tuesday approved a preliminary spending plan indicating the
district might not be able to meet its financial obligations.
Capistrano's interim plan, due to county education officials this
week, will be filed with a "qualified" certification, a move that
officials say will give the district more time to resolve its
budget woes...
Class sizes, custodians hit by Saddleback's $33 million in cuts
June 22, 2010 Filed in: Budget &
Finance
Scott Martindale, The Orange County Register
Saddleback Valley Unified
School District trustees on Tuesday passed a $229 million budget
for 2010-11 that calls for increasing class sizes at all grade
levels, cutting custodial services nearly in half and requiring
deep employee pay concessions. The spending plan calls for $33
million in cuts in response to reduced state funding, and restores
none of the deep cutbacks to programs and services made last year,
including eliminating most of the district's bus routes and
dramatically scaling back counselors and school library
staffing…
Talk of CUSD teacher strike getting louder
March 31, 2010 Filed in: Unions
Asha Patel, Orange County Local New Network
The Capistrano Unified
School District is expected to make official a more than 10 percent
teacher pay cut at a special meeting Wednesday, a move which has
the entire Capistrano education community worried about a possible
teacher strike. The proposed pay cut – to be put before the
district board at a public meeting Wednesday – would affect 2,300
CUSD teachers and certificate-holding employees. Capistrano Unified
is facing a $34 million shortfall for fiscal year 2010-2011 and an
additional $5 million shortfall in 2011-2012…
Class-Size Reduction Politics
February 10, 2002 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Column: James Fleming, The Los Angeles Times
When class-size reduction
was first implemented, the state did not pay the full cost. Wilson
wanted local school districts to make a conscious decision to apply
to participate and to pay a portion of the cost out of their local
discretionary budget. During the first year, the Capistrano Unified
School District assumed 10% of the cost, with the state picking up
the rest. Because of how financing was structured, however, today
the district assumes 24% of the cost, with its local percentage
share continuing to rise each year. The ever-increasing gap between
the state's share and the actual costs that districts must assume
exists because, when the program started nearly six years ago,
districts throughout California hired thousands of new teachers. As
those "beginning" teachers gained years of experience, they also
received automatic salary increases…
State releases survey detailing school budget cuts
June 16, 2010 Filed in: Budget &
Finance
Corey G. Johnson, California Watch
Over the last two years,
$17 billion in educational budget reductions have prompted nearly
400 school districts to cut back on maintenance, class materials
and critical faculty, according to a state survey released last
week. In May, 387 school districts, county offices of education and
charter schools answered questions from the state Department of
Education about how they have balanced their budgets in light of
state budget cuts. State officials wanted to know which programs,
if any, were cut or eliminated in the last two school years and if
staff reductions, school closures, or reduced school years were
occurring as the result of funding cuts. The results of the survey
are as follows…
Teacher columnist's layoff rescinded
June 01, 2010 Filed in: Budget &
Finance
Column: Carol Veravanich, The Orange County
Register I do
not think I complain about my salary. I am not asking for more nor
am I calling for raises. I do grow tired of people saying we are
overpaid, which is not the case, and I think the cuts coming to our
salaries are significant. The last part of your letter really made
me think. I received news today that I have a job next year, where
I thought I was laid off after receiving my final notice. It is a
strange year when this all happens. I am feeling relieved to have
my job back and yet your last sentence about all of those people
who would love to replace me really hit home. I know how true that
is, as I was just one of those people a few hours ago worried about
what I would do for a job next year.
Cuts will hit teachers hard in June
May 25, 2010 Filed in: Budget &
Finance
Carol Veravanich, The Orange County Register
Q. Can you do me a favor
and put the cuts coming to our salary in dollars and cents for your
readers so quick to criticize us? Do they know how much is being
taken out of our pay this coming month? These furlough days are a
huge hit to us and yet I keep hearing people say we need to do our
share. How many of them would like to take this huge chunk out of
their pay?
Dems want to tax, borrow, avoid cuts
May 26, 2010 Filed in: Budget & Finance
| Unions
Column: Dan Walters, The Orange County
Register The California
Legislature's Democratic
leaders, after months of hoping against hope that the state budget
deficit would magically disappear, have finally returned to their
ideological roots, proposing new taxes and new borrowing to avoid
deep spending cuts. Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's no-new-taxes budget would eliminate
welfare grants, hit K-12 education and slash deeply into the
remainder of the social services and health safety net for millions
of poor Californians – anathema to the Legislature's liberals.
However, the nearly $5 billion in temporary new taxes proposed by
Democratic senators and the more than $9 billion in one-time
borrowing favored by Democratic Assembly members, absent some
economic miracle, would, as Schwarzenegger often says, merely "kick
the can down the road."
O.C. schools finalize more than 1,500 teacher cuts
May 18, 2010 Filed in: Budget & Finance
| Unions
Fermin Leal and Scott Martindale This year, many districts are relying
heavily on negotiations with unions for furlough days, salary
reductions and other concessions that could pare away at their
layoff numbers, officials said. Capistrano Unified, Magnolia
and Anaheim
Union High school
districts, for example, have already rescinded dozens of notices
after receiving some concessions from unions in new contracts.
Capistrano Unified rescinded 38 of 84 layoff notices to tenured
teachers and other certificated staff after union leaders and
trustees settled a long-running contract dispute. “We are doing
everything we can to retain personnel and not increase class
sizes,” Capistrano Trustee Ken Lopez-Maddox said. “But the state
budget is in a tailspin and we don’t yet know what it holds for
public education. We are doing all we can to brace ourselves for
what Sacramento
might do.”
150 rally against school cuts
May 19, 2010 Filed in: Budget &
Finance
Fermin Leal, The Orange County Register
About 150 students,
teachers, parents, and others marched along Chapman Avenue on
Wednesday to rally against ongoing cuts to education. The rally,
one of 36 planned statewide, was organized by the newly formed
grassroots group of parents and educators called
California
Advocates United to Save
Education, or CAUSE…
Education rally planned for Orange
May 19, 2010 Filed in: Budget &
Finance
Diana Lambert, The Sacramento Bee
Students, teachers,
parents, and others plan to hold a rally Wednesday afternoon at El
Modena High to protest ongoing cuts to education. The rally, the
only one scheduled for Orange County, is one of 36 planned
statewide. The newly-formed grassroots group of parents and
educators called California
Advocates United to Save
Education, or CAUSE, organized the rallies to call on lawmakers to
reject further education cuts… More News...
Teachers union tells Steinberg to halt education cuts
May 18, 2010 Filed in: Unions
Susan Ferriss, The Sacramento Bee
A fresh billboard heading
into Sacramento
off Interstate 5 showcases
the California
Teachers Association's dissatisfaction with a chief ally in
the state Capitol: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell
Steinberg. "Dear Senator
Steinberg,"
reads the pink billboard, which appeared over the weekend. "Stop
the blame. Stop the cuts." The state's largest teachers union is
also launching a direct-mail campaign to exert pressure on
Steinberg as he gears up for negotiations with Gov.
Arnold
Schwarzenegger and other legislators over how to
address the state's $19.1 billion budget
deficit...
The Beholden State
March 21, 2010 Filed in: Unions
Column: Steven Malanga, City Journal How public employees became members of
the elite class in a declining California offers a cautionary tale
to the rest of the country, where the same process is happening in
slower motion. The story starts half a century ago, when California
public workers won bargaining rights and quickly learned how to
elect their own bosses—that is, sympathetic politicians who would
grant them outsize pay and benefits in exchange for their support.
Over time, the unions have turned the state’s politics completely
in their favor. The result: unaffordable benefits for civil
servants; fiscal chaos in Sacramento and in cities and towns across
the state; and angry taxpayers finally confronting the unionized
masters of California’s unsustainable government…
Education spared more massive cuts
January 08, 2010 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Fermin Leal, Gary Robbins and Scott Martindale, The
Orange County Register Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won't slash
K-12 or higher education like other services as part of a proposed
budget he announced today, but public schools still face a tough
road ahead, and it is possible Cal State University students will
experience another fee hike. The governor announced his proposed
budget will continue fully funding Prop. 98, the state law that
requires that about 40 percent of the state's budget be allocated
for K-12 education and community colleges...
Sacramento grand jury issues dire financial warning to school districts
May 10, 2010 Filed in: Budget &
Finance
Diana Lambert, The Sacramento Bee
Sacramento County school
officials may be ignoring mounting debt that could bankrupt
districts or leave retirees without health
benefits, according to a grand jury report
released today. Twelve of the 13 districts in the county don't have
enough money to pay the health benefits promised future retirees
and are not setting aside any money to pay them, said the
report...
Irvine schools' projected deficit now $22 million
January 18, 2010 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Alexis Bergjans, The Orange County Register
Irvine Unified School
District's fiscal problem is worse than anticipated as new budget
numbers project a $22 million deficit, a nearly 50 percent increase
from the $15 million figure that the district had been relying on
as recently as early last week...
State applies for $490 million more in stimulus funds for schools
January 11, 2010 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Fermin Leal, The Orange County Register
School districts and
universities used federal stimulus funds last year to fund programs
and hundreds of jobs that would have lost because of the ongoing
state budget crisis. But because the funds were one-time awards,
many districts are again faced with difficult decisions amid
looming deficits...
O.C. schools expect to cut $365 million
January 04, 2010 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Fermin Leal and Scott Martindale, The Orange County
Register 2010-11
O.C. school budget cuts: Data sources: Academic Performance Index
provided by the state Department of Education; 2009-10 spending
provided by the O.C. Department of Education; 2009-10 cuts,
anticipated 2010-11 cuts and cut details provided by Orange County
schools. Enrollment data provided by Ed-Data, a non-profit service
that partners with the state to generate California school
information…
Report: economy hurting state's public schools
January 21, 2010 Filed in:
Budget &
Finance
Fermin Leal, The Orange County Register
Orange County's schools
plan to cut $280 million from next year's budgets – after cutting a
similar amount that last year...
To cut $365 million, schools eye furloughs, short year
March 11, 2010 Filed in: Budget &
Finance
Fermin Leal and Scott Martindale, The Orange County
Register Orange
County students are likely to lose up to a week of instruction next
year while classes grow ever more crowded, teachers are let go and
course options shrink. Employee furloughs – up to 10 days long –
have joined class-size increases and teacher layoffs as favored
options for balancing 2010-11 budgets at local school districts,
which need to slash $365.3 million even after consecutive years of
deep cuts...
Irvine school board OKs $19.8 million in spending cuts
March 17, 2010 Filed in: Budget &
Finance
Alexis Bergjans, The Orange County Register
The Irvine Unified School
District Board of Education unanimously approved more than $19.8
million in cuts and budget reductions for the next two years and
submitted a "positive" interim budget report to the county
superintendent's office on Tuesday. The cuts, to close the
district's deficit and demonstrate IUSD's ability to meet its
financial obligations, include more than $7.8 million in ongoing
savings and almost $12 million in one-time fiscal fixes...