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Education Budget
Response 2010

The Budget & the RCEF

Budget Basics

RCSD By the Numbers

What You Can Do

More Resources

Once again, district and school staff are facing the prospect of making painful mid-year budget reductions this year and even more painful cuts in 2010/2011 of anywhere from $4.7 to $13.7 million.

After seven years of deep cuts to the Redwood City School District (RCSD) budget students next year potentially face:

  • Classes of 31 students in all grades
  • Reduced school staff, including custodians and vice principals
  • Closed libraries
  • Elimination of GATE, middle school music, and Selby Lane IB programs
  • Fewer psychologists, nurses, and academic support specialists
  • No summer school support for struggling students
  • 5 fewer days of school

These cuts will come in a year when the target proficiency levels in language arts jump to 67.6 % and in math to 68.5%, as mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Our students will be expected to achieve at higher levels even as the support they need to attain these goals is cut out from beneath them.

 

The Budget and the RCEF

The RCEF provides programs to children at every school in Redwood City, specifically in the areas of the arts, academic support, wellness, and instruction innovation.

Money the RCEF provides also frees up school parent organizations to focus on seeking funding for programs unique to their schools.

Cuts in staffing levels, programs, and services offered by the district make the enrichment programs currently provided by the RCEF even more critical: in spite of a prolonged economic crisis, our children still benefit from music, Outdoor Education, fitness and nutrition instruction, and access to innovative teaching through our SMART grants.

In addition, the RCEF helps our community understand how the public school system is structured and financed. We have published information explaining these topics, which can be seen on our Publications page as wells as on our Public Education 101 page. We continue to partner with the district, and school and community groups to reach the citizens of Redwood City so they can make informed decisions at the ballot box about education issues.

District budget cuts will likely intensify fundraising efforts at individual schools to make up funding gaps at a time when traditional donors have less to give, which will tighten the supply of money available to the RCEF. In response we are committed to exploring innovative funding streams, finding new partners, and working even harder to meet and exceed our fundraising goal this year.

Although our own budget does not allow us to fund all the programs we want our students to have, our goal is to steadily increase the scope and range of the programs we provide, including restoring music, art, and PE to all grades and supporting academic achievement for all students through supplemental programs and our SMART grants.

Support from our community allows us to make a difference in the lives of our students. With greater contributions of time and money, we could do even more for our children to create a brighter future for us all.

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Budget Basics

The 5 budget words you need to understand:

  • Around 40% of the district budget is CATEGORICAL money. This is restricted to things like special education, teaching English to children who speak another language, and academic support programs. This money comes from both the state government and the federal government, and the district has no leeway in how the money is spent.
  • The remaining 60% of the budget is the GENERAL FUND, which is used for teacher salaries, the utility bills, and other day-to-day costs.
  • REVENUE LIMIT: Every district in the state has a baseline per student amount of funding, called the revenue limit. The revenue limit is set by a formula that also factors in average daily attendance. The revenue limit is different for each district — ours is one of the lowest in the county.

    The RCSD is a revenue limit district. This means we do not raise enough money from property taxes to reach our revenue limit. For our district, the state provides all the money up to our revenue limit. This makes us totally dependent on state funding.
  • Almost every other school district in our area is a BASIC AID district. A basic aid school district is one in which the district’s per pupil property tax revenue exceeds its per pupil revenue limit. Anything they raise above their revenue limit, they get to keep. There is no connection to student attendance. These districts are fully supported by their community, making them less vulnerable to state cutbacks.
  • Almost every other school district in our area has a PARCEL TAX that provides additional income for their schools. Because property taxes are held in check as a result of Proposition 13, communities that want to increase education funding turn to parcel taxes. A parcel tax is a special tax that is assessed on each property parcel but is not tied to its appraised value.

The district is required by state law to produce a balanced budget by June 30.

The state budget is historically late every year. The exact reduction in the education budget may not be finalized until August or September.

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What You Can Do

With your help we can make a difference in the education of our children and the future of our community:

Give to the RCEF. Send your checks to RCEF, PO  Box 3046, Redwood City CA  94064  or give online.

Attend a district budget meeting. See calendar.

Volunteer with the RCEF and help us provide more for our kids. Contact us for more information about how you can help us support our students.

Volunteer at a school. Contact your school principal or teacher for ideas on how you can help students directly.

Communicate your concerns and solutions to our RCSD School Board Trustees See contact information.

Contact your state representatives and the Governor with your thoughts on this issue while there is still time to make a difference. See contact information.

Support the Local Control of Local Classrooms Funding Act ballot initiative, which would reduce the majority required to pass education parcel taxes to 55%. See: improvedschoolfunding.com.

Learn about the call for a Constitutional Convention at www.repaircalifornia.org

Contact your federal representatives to discuss full funding for such federal mandates as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
See contact information.

Remember that in crisis lies opportunity!

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Contacts

STATE GOVERNMENT

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor, State of California
State Capitol Building, 1st floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-2841
www.gov.ca.gov

Senator Joe Simitian
State Capitol Room 2080
Sacramento, CA 92248-0001
916-651-4011
senator.simitian@sen.ca.gov

Assembly Member Ira Ruskin
State Capitol, Room 3123
Sacramento, CA 94248
916-319-2021
assemblymember.ruskin
@assembly.ca.gov

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RCSD SCHOOL BOARD

Trustee contact information
President: Dennis McBride
Maria Diaz Slocum
Alisa MacAvoy
Shelly Masur
Hilary Paulson

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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

President Barak Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
www.whitehouse.gov

US Senator Barbara Boxer
112 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
415-403-0100
202-224-3553

US Senator Diane Feinstein
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
415-393-0707
202-224-3841

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo
(District 14)
205 Cannon Building
Washington, DC 20515
650-323-2984
202-225-8104

Congresswoman Jackie Speier
(District 12)
211 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
650-342-0300
202-225-3531

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More Resources

California Education Finance Overview — RCEF publication explaining the basics of school finance in California.

Redwood City School District — District's budget information page.

EdSource — This independent, nonpartisan organization provides easy to understand information on all aspects of the California public education system.

EdData — An excellent source of fiscal, demographic, and performance data for California's public schools.

California School Board Association — Advocacy information and materials.

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Redwood City School District by the Numbers

Cut to 2009/10 budget: $5.5 million or around 7%.

Cuts to general fund over past 3 years: $7.5 million, or 17%

Cuts to general fundover past 10 years: $10 million

Per student funding from state 2007/08: $5,500

Per student funding from state 2009/10: $4,700

Increase in students since 2006/07: 1,000, or around 11%

Amount of one-time federal stimulus money in 2009/10: $4.7 million

Number of students in 2009/10: 9,000

Current general fund is at same level as 2004/05.

Number of students in 2004/05: 8,000

Amount spent per student in RCSD including additional sources of revenue: $6,000

Amount spent per student in Woodside, including additional sources of revenue (parcel tax, Education Foundation): $16,000

Every $1 billion cut at the state level translates into $1 million cut at the district level

Estimated drop in property tax revenues in the past year: 0.6%

Number of basic aid (property tax supported) districts in San Mateo County in 2009/10: 13 out of 23.

Number of basic aid districts in Calfornia in 2009/10: 112 out of 963.

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