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Once again following months of delay, the California legislature finally
passed an operating budget. We should all be relieved that officials
on both sides of the political aisle were finally able to hammer out
the details for a document that could garner enough support to pass.
Sometimes there are surprises at the 11th hour, so the educational
community was pleased that there were no additional cuts to schools.
But it’s very important for the public to understand that with
this budget, schools in California have now lost $9.4 billion since
2001. That is a staggering figure and it comes from the Legislative
Analyst’s Office.
Here’s where those figures come from: $1.6 billion has been lost
through failures to pay mandates. This means that the state requires
school districts do something, like state testing, promising to pay
for actual costs to the districts to implement the mandates, but has
not yet come through with the reimbursements.
Another $1.8 billion has been lost in deferrals or shifts of money
from one pot to another, according to the Legislative Analyst, and
outright cuts come to $6 billion.
These three figures amount to $9.4 billion. That is a staggering figure.
It computes out to $1,550 per student or $38,750 per classroom. No
other state or local government program has had to suffer such drastic
reductions.
Schools have no choice but to deal with these figures and soldier on
despite the challenges. It’s what we have always done. But once
again it is important to address the structural issues that have led
us to this point so that we can do our best to prevent the same scenario
from replaying in the future.
Though the legislature and the governor were able to produce an operating
budget, it was once again filled with stop-gap measures and did not
provide a long-range solution. The serious issues remain and must be
addressed.
First, California cannot survive on credit-card financing. Second,
the budget agreement provided no structural tax reform, which is urgently
needed. Without long-term solutions we will face the identical situation
next year.
What needs to be done?
Primarily, we must continue to move forward in a bipartisan manner
and we must begin immediately working on long-range, structural solutions.
As I’ve argued in the past, these structural changes must refocus
on the founding principles of our democracy, fostering MORE local control,
not less. The state must resist costly, unrealistic, one-size-fits-all
mandates that create more problems than they solve.
One lesson learned is the continuing truism that “Less is more.” We
need more flexibility, especially in terms of education funding, where
districts’ needs vary so dramatically. The state needs to set
educational standards, determine how they will measure progress toward
those standards, supply the resources, and then stand aside and let
school districts determine the best way to meet those standards in
light of their own student population, resources, and approaches. This
approach makes the most sense and saves the most money because it doesn’t
mandate expenditures that might not be needed in dozens or even hundreds
of the state’s 1,000 school districts.
The budget is passed. But the real work remains — to craft a
structural solution that truly solves the financial problems, while
protecting the state’s children and families.
Our leaders reflect those they serve. We must all use rhetoric that
reflects the seriousness of the task at hand, put aside our differences,
and support bipartisan efforts to make the hard choices.
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