Superintendent Letter January 2011

Thank you all for your continued support of public education in Alameda and for participating in our ongoing community conversation about how best to move forward with our schools. With the beginning of the new year, we all have renewed hope that we will continue to work together successfully to overcome the fiscal crisis facing our schools.

Governor’s Budget
You may have heard Governor Brown’s recent statements that he will not be imposing any additional cuts to K-12 education funds this year, beyond the millions already cut in the past two years. While the Governor’s statements of support for education are encouraging, I do want to clarify that his proposals, even if acted upon by the legislature and approved by voters later this year, would not be sufficient to prevent further reductions to school programs and the closure of schools as approved by the Board of Education earlier this school year.

If Governor Brown cannot put his proposed taxes on the ballot, his proposed budget would mean an additional $330 per student cut. In Alameda, this would equate to approximately an additional $3.3M in funding cuts. Even assuming the best case scenario with state funding - that the legislature approves his budget proposal and voters approve the ballot measures – our schools will still see a $20 per student cut, equating to a cut of $200,000 to Alameda Unified.

Additionally, under recent proposals from Sacramento, school districts may be responsible for mental health services for students with Individual Education Plans under special education (IEP’s). This issue is currently being litigated and we expect a ruling in late February. If school districts are found responsible for providing these services, this could mean Alameda Unified would have an additional $1.2M over the next few years to provide services for our special education students.

This proposal, coupled with the expiration of our two current parcel taxes next year, will require additional cuts of many millions of dollars to valuable and critical programs and services for students and the closure of several schools over the next two years.

As we watch the news in Sacramento, it is important to keep in mind how the process has historically worked. Generally, every year, the Governor proposes a budget in January. That proposal then moves to the legislature, where it inevitably changes in subsequent weeks and months. Most years, the budget proposal is revised in May (“the May revise”) before it is finally approved and signed sometime during the summer. Due to the many political and economic forces involved in the process, the budget proposed by the Governor in January often differs from the final state budget adopted many months later. For example, the final state budget for the 2010/11 school year (which began in August) was not approved until last fall, months after school had already begun.

Robles-Wong v. State of California

As you may know, January 14^th we received the Judge's ruling on the State's demurrer. The State’s demurrer sought to dismiss all the plaintiffs’ claims in this case. AUSD is one plaintiff in a broad coalition of districts, individuals and organizations seeking to reform the state’s broken system for financing schools on the basis that it is unconstitutional. Judge Brick dismissed our claims on demurrer with partial leave to amend.

Although we are deeply disappointed in the Court's ruling, we are resolved to continue to fight for reform. As the Court recognizes in its ruling, California children are entitled to basic equality of educational opportunity. We will continue to vigorously challenge the State's finance system on the grounds that it fails to deliver an equitable and sufficient education to our children. In the next few months, we will be assessing our options and deciding how best to move forward on behalf of California's school children and the employees who serve them. As the case progresses, I will keep you updated.

I hope this information helps clarify some of what you have heard reported by the news media about how the Governor’s budget proposals or how our court case may affect education in Alameda.

Thank you again for all of your continued support of our schools.

Sincerely,

kv_sig

Kirsten Vital
Superintendent of Schools