Dear Parent: Poway Unified Budget Alert
There literally is only so much one can do before really getting pissed off at how this country works. We can spend billions a month over in foreign countries, to help make their lives better under the guise of national security. We can build planes that can’t be picked up on radar under the guise of National Defense, we can have people in our own congress get totally worthless ear marks in bills without anyone yelling and screaming, but we cannot adequately fund our school systems. We complain about why we are losing the the technological edge to countries like India and Thailand, and South Korea, but we cannot give our own children the ability to compete with them when they are being educated.
The PUSD teachers have taken ANOTHER paycut due to budget problems, I think that is two years in a row that they have actually lost money, just to do what they love, which is to teach our children. Yet, we have jacktards in our own government who make millions off of being in power that still get a yearly salary. I am pissed beyond belief at this situation, unless we start screaming at the top of our lungs, nothing will get done.
The email I got today really pissed me off beyond belief:
Dear Parents,
As you are aware, public schools in California have faced alarming and unprecedented reductions in state funding for six of the last nine years. Under the Governor’s current budget proposal, our district’s funding has declined by 11.3% since 2007-08. The impact of this reduction is even greater when inflationary operating costs are factored in.
I know you and your children have felt the impact of some of these reductions. I hope you also feel we have tried to be strategic with the reduced dollars we receive in order to keep our focus on your children’s academic growth. However, in spite of these efforts, you and your children will experience these cuts even more directly next year in the form of increased class sizes and reduced support services. In order to make ends meet next year, the student school year will be reduced from 180 school days to 175 school days. The first day of school will be Wednesday, August 25, rather than Thursday, August 26. The last day of school will be Thursday, June 9, rather than Wednesday, June 15. The complete school calendar can be found on the PUSD website under Hot Topics.
There is some positive news to share. We have recently reached an agreement with our teachers and management staff to reduce salaries a total of 4.3% for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years. This agreement has allowed us to bring back all tenured teachers who received layoff notices. At the elementary level, this will help bring K-3 class sizes down from the proposed 30:1 to approximately 26:1. It will also provide some relief at the high school level, projected to have the largest increases in class size. The Board of Education and Poway Unified School District are most appreciative of our teachers and managers for electing to take this step to help offset the negative impact of the state financial crisis on our students. Our teachers overwhelmingly passed the agreement with a 78% yes vote. We are currently negotiating with our two classified employee unions and are hopeful that we will be able to reach a similar agreement with all employees.
While our staff has once again led the way in taking a salary reduction during challenging times, it does not solve the financial crisis we currently face, and I am very worried about the additional reductions proposed for K-12 education. In looking at the broader state picture, I am deeply concerned that K-12 education continues to take the brunt of the cuts from the state. In normal times, K-12 education represents about 40% of the state budget, yet we have taken approximately 60% of the budget reductions. When Californians are polled regarding their priorities, education is at the top of the list – yet funding for K-12 schools has taken a disproportionate reduction.
Therefore, we need your help in holding our legislators accountable for not cutting education further and for moving K-12 education back to the top of the state priority list. We need our governor and state legislators to take action to make this happen – to not only talk the talk, but to walk the walk. To do this, we need your voices to be heard in Sacramento. I encourage you to go to the Palomar Council PTA website at www.palomarcouncil.com/advocacy.htm for additional information and sample letters to legislators.
We already count on your support in so many ways at the local school level in terms of fundraising and volunteerism. We could not do what we do without you. I want to thank you for all that you do day in and day out, not only for your child, but for all the children at your school.
Please know we will continue to do our very best with the dollars we receive to provide the best possible education for your children.
Sincerely,
Don Phillips, Superintendent
