Since education budget cuts were first proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger in January 2008, the parents and community members of the Redwood City School District have been actively working to prevent them from taking place.

RCEF board member and Clifford School parent Jo-Ann Sockolov, with support from School Board President Shelly Masur, quickly organized a district-wide campaign to send a flood of letters protesting the cuts to the Governor and state legislators. Parent leaders responded by running campaigns at individual schools until more than 15,000 letters were compiled, many featuring artwork and appeals from students.

The first stage of this campaign ended when the letters were turned over to State Senator Joe Simitian at Hoover School library. 3rd grade students from the school attended the event to remind everyone why so many people care about the cuts.

The stacks of letters also made an appearance at the RCEF Benefit for a Brighter Future, on April 25. Ms. Solkov and Ms. Masur both spoke about the many parents who worked so hard to organize letter-writing campaigns at their own schools.

With the Governor's May revision budget still calling for significant cuts to education and additionally proposing an education funding strategy that relies on a ballot measure that will not go before voters until November of this year, many parents and community leaders believe that the campaign to stop the cuts must continue throughout the budget negotiating process. The legislators and Governor are far apart on many aspects of the state budget, which means it could be well into September before the negotiations are complete.

Basic Budget Facts

Governor Schwarzenegger is proposing cuts to both general funds and categorical funds for education.

This includes cuts from base revenue limit funding, or general purpose funds. These funds are given to districts like ours by the state to supplement the money we raise through local property taxes for public schools. This money brings our district up to a predetermined revenue limit, and can be allocated at the district’s discretion.

This also includes cuts to state categorical funds. Categorical funds are restricted to their specified purpose. Some major categorical funds are:  special education; class-size reduction; child development programs; child nutrition programs; and equalization programs such as the Economic Impact Aid grant, which provides additional money to reduce disparities between districts across the state. California receives both state and federal categorical funds, which make up around 30% of the education budget.

These cuts come in a year when the target proficiency levels in language arts jump to 35.2 % and in math to 37%, as mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

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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Redwood City School District

If the budget proposed by the Governor is accepted, there is a strong possibility of reductions in teacher staffing and services.

The district has already cut a total of $3.2 million from its budget in the last 5 years. The minimum loss in revenue from the state, based on the Governor's current proposal, will be about $4.7 million.

The district will be able to use some of its reserves to make up the reductions; however, the district is being advised to budget conservatively and plan for mid-year cuts if the Governor's plans are rejected by the legislature or fail to generate the projected income. This means the district will not want to dip too deeply into reserve funds.

The district is required by state law to produce a balanced budget, based on the Governor's proposed numbers, by June 30, even though the numbers will continue to change as the state government debates and finally passes the state budget months later.

Redwood City schools have made steady progress in improving student achievement scores, and the district believes cuts of this order will affect its ability to continue this positive trend.

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Timetable

Preliminary layoff notices to teachers:   March 15

School Board budget discussion:   March 27

Preliminary layoff notices to other staff:   May 15

Governor’s May revision to budget:   May 15

Community workshop on budget reductions:   May 19

School Board approves 2008-09 budget:   June 30

State legislature approves 2008-90 budget: ??

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The Budget and the RCEF

The RCEF provides programs to our children at every school, specifically in the areas of music and the arts, PE and fitness, and science. Although we currently do not fund programs in all these areas, and not to the extent we would like, our aspiration is to see these subjects provided to every student, at every grade, in every Redwood City public elementary school.

Cuts in staffing levels, programs, and services offered by the district will make the enrichment programs provided by the RCEF even more critical: if nothing else our children will still benefit from music, Outdoor Education, and wellness instruction, and  starting next year, their teachers will have access to additional funds for science and technology education through the Oracle Science & Technology minigrants.

Cuts will likely intensify fundraising efforts at individual schools to make up funding gaps, which will tighten the supply of money available to the RCEF from individual donors, foundations and corporations, and local businesses.

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