FIXING OUR SCHOOLS FOR DUMMIES - II

SECURE and CONSISTENT FUNDING

If indeed our schools and the students who are in attendance are this country's greatest natural resource then it is time to put our money where our mouth is. There seems to be money for sports stadiums, mass transit, first time home buyers, cash for clunkers and a host of other seemingly vital items and programs. Education needs to be at the top of this list. The financial experts need to decide how education will be consistently funded. Be it sales, property, income or whatever tax this tax must be fair, equitable and appropriate. At the same time services now being provided in the school setting that are non educational must be reconsidered and if these programs do not support the educational process then they are expendable.

Presently the school district where I reside, Cabrillo Unified School District, needs more money because like other districts it is getting less from the state. Supposedly, every teacher hired after 1999 (last hired, first fired) has been given a pink slip. To keep these teachers employed we will be voting on a parcel tax. The tax will be for a couple of hundred dollars assessed on every property owner for three to four year period of time. To pass, the measure must be approved by 66% of those voting. It may not sound like much money; but there is a rub.

I spoke with a dink couple recently (dual income no kids) and they purchased a house for $1,200,000. Yes, this is a lot of money; but not that unusual in San Mateo County, California. This couple currently pays $12,000 a year in property taxes! Our sales tax is now at 9.25% in San Mateo County and the vehicle licensing fees have increased this year from .65% to 1.15% of the vehicle's purchase price. This couple's feeling is that enough is enough. They and many other Californians want to know how all the collected tax money is being spent? What is the state doing with its money? Considering the economic climate I doubt very seriously that this parcel tax measure will pass.

As California approaches another gubernatorial election we already have candidates spouting off about their alleged success in the business world and how they will translate that success into running the state. On occasion this same spiel is offered as the definitive answer to improve our schools. Unfortunately what these candidates fail to realize is that schools do not produce a product. Schools teach, train and prepare individuals for life in an ever changing world. There is no tangible product. There is a process.

Rather than re-invent the wheel it would seem that each state could set up study groups to find school districts that are both financially solvent and academically successful. Discover what their best practices are and what they do right. Learn from both their mistakes and successes. Examine and report on every aspect of what these successful school districts are doing and replicate where possible. I am not advocating a one size fits all approach; but the sharing of information so that schools that need to change have a model by which to follow. At the same time school districts must think outside the box. Every aspect of what they do should be re-examined in the context of could it be done better and at less cost.

The absurd cycle of cutting services and jobs and at the same time raising taxes must be stopped. Our childrens education has to be viewed as just as vital to a community as a new foot ball stadium ... even more important.

Next Post: Teacher Recruitment and Retention