Vote YES on Prop E Save Our Schools!
As the recently named Administrator of the Year for school business officials by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and the California School Boards Association (CSBA) in both San Diego and Imperial counties; the 2013-14 President of the state ACSA Business Services Council which includes top chief business officials of school districts and county offices of education representing all regions within California; a school district assistant superintendent of business services and former principal and teacher; a resident and property owner of Coronado; a small business owner with my husband in Coronado; and a mother of two children within the Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) I applaud the mighty efforts of CUSD and our local community for placing Proposition E on the June 3rd ballot in an effort to save our schools from the recent, dramatic Legislative shift in our state’s school finance model from revenue limit funding to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF
In 1975, California’s Governor Jerry Brown inherited a California education system that was one of the top funded and best nationwide. Over the last four decades various competing state propositions and Legislative priorities have usurped education funding and ultimately have reduced California to being one of the least funded education systems in the United States.
In December 2007, when the Great Recession began a marked global economic crisis occurred and was manifested in the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble as a result of the U.S. subprime mortgage calamity, high unemployment, and the dissolution of hedge funds, banks and businesses. During the Great Recession period California reduced education funding by more than 20%. This resulted in school closures, teacher layoffs, a reduction of school days within the year, furlough days, increased class sizes, and more. Our state’s economy has not yet recovered from the Great Recession, thus, education funding has also not been restored.
In the summer of 2013 the California Legislature adopted a new school finance model called the “Local Control Funding Formula or LCFF.” This is the first time our state has changed the revenue limit school funding methodology in almost fifty years. The LCFF does not bring new funding to public schools in California, but rather, restores the massive budget cuts education sustained during the Great Recession to public education funding to the 2007-08 level by 2020-21. By 2020-21, when the LCFF is fully funded California will remain almost last nationwide in funding for education.
The LCFF prioritizes and redistributes former state categorical funding to three target groups of students: English learners, low income, and foster youth. Under the LCFF funding model CUSD will receive far fewer funds compared to school districts with high populations of students from the state target groups. Thus, CUSD must seek local funding resources such as a general obligation bond in order to maintain the high quality educational program that our city is recognized for statewide.
There are roughly 1,000 school districts in California representing about 6.2 million K-12 students and our very own Coronado Union School District continues to have the highest countywide unified school district (K-12) Academic Performance Index (API) scores for academic achievement! Further, Coronado High School ranks 45th statewide by U.S.News and both the high school and Village Elementary remain among the top San Diego county schools listed in the top 10% of California schools. Additionally, Coronado Middle School and Silver Strand Elementary tout API scores over 900, which far exceeds the state benchmark of 800.
In 1991, Assembly Bill 1200 established a system of school district accounting practices that requires county office of education fiscal oversight for all local education agencies, including CUSD. This law requires transparency of school finances beginning with an annual public hearing of a school district’s proposed budget, two interim budgets provided to the county office of education for approval and state department of education, and a year-end unaudited actuals budget which must be approved at a public school district Governing Board meeting. Additionally, each year a school district’s financial records must be reviewed by an outside auditor and a written audit report must be produced at a public Board meeting. CUSD has a history of sound fiscal practices as evidenced by years of AB 1200 required county office of education documented budget reviews and audit reports.
I extend to the leaders of CUSD and our local community my most sincere debt of gratitude for your valiant efforts to support Proposition E in order to save our children’s quality of education. Unfortunately, until California makes education a top priority again by at least funding education at the national average in per pupil spending, it will be up to our local community to join together in a unified effort to protect the future of our children by helping to fund their education.
Gina Potter, Ed.D.
