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  <title type="text">SCUSD Budget Cuts</title>
  <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/27190/150Mile_NonStop_Education_Run_Culminates_on_State_Capitol_Steps" />
  <subtitle>More Budget cuts for SCUSD</subtitle>
  <entry>
    <title type="text">150-Mile Non-Stop Education Run Culminates on State Capitol Steps</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/27190/150Mile_NonStop_Education_Run_Culminates_on_State_Capitol_Steps" />
    <author>
      <name>Mike Simpson</name>
    </author>
    <id>headline-27190</id>
    <updated>2010-05-18T16:03:42Z</updated>
    <published>2010-05-18T16:03:42Z</published>
    <content type="html">&lt;p style="text-align: center; "&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; "&gt;150-Mile Non-Stop Education Run Culminates on State Capitol Steps&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 22px; font-family: Arial; "&gt;Students, parents, teachers and supporters who ran a 150-mile non-stop day-and-night relay from San Carlos to Sacramento to invite lawmakers to spend a day in a public school finished their journey&lt;span style="color: black; "&gt;&amp;nbsp;yesterday&lt;/span&gt;, Monday, May 17, with a rally on the steps of the California State Capitol Building.&amp;nbsp; Event participants included Assemblymember Ira Ruskin, State Senator Gloria Romero, and Assemblymember Tom Torlakson; the latter two are candidates for California Superintendent of Public Instruction.&amp;nbsp; Following the rally, the group fanned out to deliver their invitation letters to the state&amp;rsquo;s lawmakers.&amp;nbsp; Participants in the &amp;ldquo;Spend 1 Day&amp;rdquo; project came from the San Carlos Charter Learning Center, which is California&amp;rsquo;s founding public charter school, and the John Gill School, a public school in Redwood City.&amp;nbsp; The youngsters are asking politicians to visit a public school for one day to see the impact of their spending choices on education&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The relay run began on Saturday, May 15, on the grounds of the San Carlos Charter Learning Center.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content>
    <dc:creator>Mike Simpson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-05-18T16:03:42Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="text">150-Mile Citizen Run to Invite CA Lawmakers to Schools Culminates in Sacramento May 17</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/26955/150Mile_Citizen_Run_to_Invite_CA_Lawmakers_to_Schools_Culminates_in_Sacramento_May_17" />
    <author>
      <name>Mike Simpson</name>
    </author>
    <id>headline-26955</id>
    <updated>2010-05-14T17:52:55Z</updated>
    <published>2010-05-14T17:52:55Z</published>
    <content type="html">&lt;p style="text-align: center; "&gt;
	&amp;nbsp;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; "&gt;150-Mile Citizen Run to Invite Calif. Lawmakers to Schools&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: center; "&gt;
	&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; "&gt;Culminates in Sacramento May 17&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; "&gt;
	&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px; font-family: Arial; "&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 19px; text-align: left; "&gt;
	&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px; font-family: Arial; "&gt;Students, teachers, parents and supporters who are running a 150-mile relay day and night to Sacramento to invite state lawmakers to spend a day in a public school will finish their journey with a rally at 12 p.m., Monday, May 17, at the California State Capitol Building.&amp;nbsp; The runners are carrying letters written by the youngsters, who are asking that politicians visit a school for a day to see the impact of their spending choices on education.&amp;nbsp; Speakers at the rally will include Don Shalvey, senior program officer with the Bill &amp;amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, Assemblymember and candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, and California State Assemblymember Ira Ruskin.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 19px; text-align: left; "&gt;
	&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px; font-family: Arial; "&gt;The runners are with the San Carlos Charter Learning Center, which is California&amp;rsquo;s founding public charter school, and the John Gill School, a public school in Redwood City.&amp;nbsp; They will go down Capitol Ave at about 11:45 a.m. and run along 15thSt. and N St. to 10th&amp;nbsp;St.&amp;nbsp; The rally will take place near the fishpond outside of the east entrance of the Capitol Building.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 19px; text-align: left; "&gt;
	&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 19px; "&gt;
	&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; "&gt;Photo below: Second-graders at the San Carlos Charter Learning Center with letters they&amp;rsquo;ve written asking California&amp;rsquo;s lawmakers to spend a day in a public school.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 19px; "&gt;
	&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px; font-family: Arial; "&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; "&gt;
	&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.scclc.net/" target="_blank"&gt;San Carlos Charter Learning Center&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.scclc.net/" target="_blank"&gt;. The Longest Running Charter School in America&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content>
    <dc:creator>Mike Simpson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-05-14T17:52:55Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="text">What matters is what parents do.</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/23250/What_matters_is_what_parents_do" />
    <author>
      <name>Mike Simpson</name>
    </author>
    <id>headline-23250</id>
    <updated>2010-03-14T18:42:41Z</updated>
    <published>2010-03-14T18:42:41Z</published>
    <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;On Friday, March 12, 2010 Bill Maher did one of his signature New Rules bits in &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-dont-fire-the-te_b_497554.html"&gt;the Huffington Post&lt;/a&gt; as well as on his weekly show &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.hbo.com/index.html"&gt;Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO.&lt;/a&gt; The title of the piece was &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-dont-fire-the-te_b_497554.html"&gt;New Rule: Let's Not Fire the Teachers When Students Don't Learn -- Let's Fire the Parents &lt;/a&gt;which in my mind really nails the essence of the Public School Debate. Mr. Maher said, &amp;ldquo;According to all the studies, it doesn't matter what teachers do. &amp;hellip;. What matters is what parents do. The number one predictor of a child's academic success is parental involvement. It doesn't even matter if your kid goes to private or public school. So save the twenty grand a year and treat yourself to a nice vacation away from the little bastards.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So my question why isn&amp;rsquo;t anyone pushing Parent/Family/Community involvement or engagement in public education? Politicians, left and right are all about &amp;ldquo;charter Schools, failing schools and blaming teachers&amp;rdquo;. They say that charter schools are part of the solution, yet according to most studies of charter schools they are on average no more effective overall than traditional public schools. You would not know it by what is being said by the education reform advocates. Why would we want to set up a separate charter system that is no better than what we have when there is something else that has proven conclusively to work&amp;hellip;parent engagement? Failing schools is the other big lie, yes we have had failing schools both charter and public and we have successful schools both charter and public but once again what works in all schools, failing or successful, charter, public or private&amp;hellip;it is parent engagement. Why aren&amp;rsquo;t the reformers telling us this?. Why do we only hear about the failing public schools?&lt;br /&gt;
And then there is &amp;ldquo;blame the teachers&amp;rsquo;. Could this be &amp;ldquo;a little union busting&amp;rdquo;? If you have a child in our public schools you know that your child&amp;rsquo;s classroom teacher is your partner and that partnership is the key to your child&amp;rsquo;s success. Yet the reformers are saying your child&amp;rsquo;s teacher is bad. I say as a parent if you are engaged in your child&amp;rsquo;s education there are no bad teachers, your child will learn more from some than others. If you get involved your child will do better no matter the skill of the teacher.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So what does it mean to engage parents, families and the community?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Recognize that all parents, regardless of income, education or cultural background, are involved in their children's learning and want their children to do well.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Design programs that will support families to guide their children's learning, from preschool through high school.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Develop the capacity of school staff and families to work together.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Link activities and programs for families to improving student learning.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Focus on developing trusting and respectful relationships among staff and families.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Build families' social and political connections.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Embrace a philosophy of partnership and be willing to share power.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Make sure that parents, school staff, and community members understand that the responsibility for children's educational development is a collaborative enterprise.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Build strong connections between schools and community organizations.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Include families in all strategies to reduce the achievement gap between white, middle-class students and low-income students and students of color.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So why aren&amp;rsquo;t more parents involved? In one survey parents over 1/3 of the parents said no one asked them. So consider yourself asked. Get involved. It is time to quit all the posturing about charter school, failed schools and blaming teachers. Once more &amp;ldquo;What matters is what parents do. The number one predictor of a child's academic success is parental involvement. It doesn't even matter if your kid goes to private or public school. So save the twenty grand a year and treat yourself to a nice vacation away from the little bastards.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</content>
    <dc:creator>Mike Simpson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-03-14T18:42:41Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="text">Sacramento school board approves layoffs to help solve budget deficit</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/22914/Sacramento_school_board_approves_layoffs_to_help_solve_budget_deficit" />
    <author>
      <name>Mike Simpson</name>
    </author>
    <id>headline-22914</id>
    <updated>2010-03-05T05:53:53Z</updated>
    <published>2010-03-05T05:53:53Z</published>
    <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sacramento school board approves layoffs to help solve budget deficit&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;About 430 teachers and other school staff, 125 central office workers would lose jobs&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
By Maria L. Lopez&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
March 4, 2010 &amp;ndash; Elementary class sizes will be larger and about 430 teachers and other school staff would lose their jobs under a plan approved by the Sacramento school board Thursday night for millions of dollars in spending cuts to close a $30.6 million budget deficit.&lt;br /&gt;
The Sacramento City Unified School District board voted unanimously Thursday night to approve the cuts to take effect in the next school year unless the district&amp;rsquo;s unions join the administration in agreeing to concessions to stave off some of the cuts.&lt;br /&gt;
Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond said the school district must close a $30.6 million deficit for the 2010-11 budget. The board approved Raymond&amp;rsquo;s plan to lay off about 340 teachers, 60 counselors, social workers and psychologists, about 38 school administrators and five school clerical workers.&lt;br /&gt;
Class sizes in kindergarten through third grade will be increased from about 25 students per class to 30 students under the plan. An agreement by employee unions to accept concessions is still in discussion and could help save jobs and keep class sizes smaller. &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;These cuts in the budget definitely will impact our ability to educate children. Class sizes would be larger and good teachers would be lost. But we are hopeful that our continuing discussions with our employee bargaining units will be successful and we will be able to avert some of the job losses and some of the class size increases,&amp;rdquo; Superintendent Raymond said.&lt;br /&gt;
Employee health care benefits have skyrocketed 50 percent over the past five years. Teachers pay virtually nothing for health care. If the employee bargaining units would agree to a $50 per month insurance premium and three furlough days, the same number of furlough days as Superintendent Raymond and other unrepresented employees, the district could save $5.1 million and save up to 68 teachers&amp;rsquo; jobs. Teacher jobs saved means smaller class sizes.&lt;br /&gt;
SCUSD has cut spending or enhanced revenues by $144 million since 2002, including deep cuts in administrative budgets as enrollment has declined and state revenues have been slashed.&lt;br /&gt;
In the new budget, the administration will make even deeper cuts, saving $5.95 million by eliminating 87 central office jobs. About 63 central office administrative employees, in addition, will receive layoff notices. Another $15 million savings will come from spending cutbacks for such state programs as assistance to struggling students, supplemental school counseling, regional occupation programs, adult education and school and facility maintenance funds.&lt;br /&gt;
Raymond said the district will save another $950,000 by making buildings more energy efficient, $253,000 in an across-the-board cut of 10 percent in central office budgets. $170,000 by reducing the number of high schools offering summer school from five to two, $30,000 by eliminating some district employee cell phones, $47,000 in computer software reductions, $15,000 in lower storage costs, and $85,000 in special education reductions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Central administration makes more budget cuts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Savings&lt;br /&gt;
Central office layoffs&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; $5.95 million&lt;br /&gt;
Central office 10% budget cut&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;$253,000&lt;br /&gt;
Energy efficient buildings&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; $950,000&lt;br /&gt;
Eliminating some district cell phones&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; $30,000&lt;br /&gt;
Eliminating storage sites&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; $15,000&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The superintendent said laying off teachers, counselors, custodians and other school workers, and packing more children into every classroom in kindergarten through third grade are the last things he wants to do.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;I am still hopeful that we will be able to reach an agreement with our employee unions and together we can reduce some of the impact of this very dire financial situation,&amp;rdquo; Raymond said.&lt;br /&gt;
California school districts are required under state law to notify teachers and other employees by March 15 of expected layoffs. School districts also are required on that day to report to the county offices of education their plans to balance their budgets for this year and the following two years.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.scusd.edu/Pages/default.aspx"&gt;Sacramento City Unified School District Web Site&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This meeting of the Sacramento City School Board is videotaped in its entirety and will be cablecast without interruption on Metro Cable 14, the government affairs channel on the Comcast and SureWest Cable Systems. Today&amp;rsquo;s meeting will be replayed Sunday,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Or go to the &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.scusd.edu/BoardofEducation/Meetings/Pages/20100304.aspx"&gt;Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education Meeting Web Site&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt; to watch the archive video of the meeting&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</content>
    <dc:creator>Mike Simpson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-03-05T05:53:53Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="text">New SCUSD surveys yield advice from parents, teachers, students as more budget cuts loom</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/22442/New_SCUSD_surveys_yield_advice_from_parents_teachers_students_as_more_budget_cuts_loom" />
    <author>
      <name>Mike Simpson</name>
    </author>
    <id>headline-22442</id>
    <updated>2010-02-19T19:49:48Z</updated>
    <published>2010-02-19T19:49:48Z</published>
    <content type="html">&lt;p style="text-align: center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Superintendent wants more engagement with community &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;By Maria L. Lopez&lt;br /&gt;
Feb. 18, 2010 &amp;ndash; New surveys of Sacramento teachers, parents and students have generated valuable advice for school district officials as they work to cut up to $30 million more from the budget and prepare a strategic plan, but Superintendent Jonathan Raymond said Thursday more community engagement is needed.&lt;br /&gt;
School teachers, administrators and parents surveyed agreed that keeping class sizes small is a top priority. But the Sacramento City Unified School District superintendent said at a news conference Thursday that raising class sizes must remain an option of last resort if employee unions do not agree to cuts elsewhere to make up the budget deficit. &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The survey clearly shows that parents and teachers don&amp;rsquo;t want larger class sizes, and neither do I,&amp;rdquo; Raymond said. &amp;ldquo;But increasing the number of students in class will remain an option if the employee organizations do not work with us to find other areas to reduce the budget.&amp;rdquo; &lt;br /&gt;
Parents and teachers surveyed also agreed that having good, up-to-date textbooks is a top budget priority. &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;We received very valuable advice from the public and our employees with these surveys, but much more work needs to be done to engage the community,&amp;rdquo; said Raymond, who has made more community involvement in schools a top priority. &amp;ldquo;With these surveys, we heard most often from community members who attend school board meetings or are involved in schools in some other way. We need to do much more to reach out to and involve the thousands of parents and community members who are not normally engaged in what happens in our city&amp;rsquo;s schools. We will not reach our very high academic goals for our children unless we get broad involvement in public education by the entire community.&amp;rdquo; &lt;br /&gt;
The historic, first-of-its-kind effort to involve Sacramento residents in the improvement of their public schools began Jan.19 when the public and district employees were invited to respond to the online surveys regarding the school district budget and development of a strategic plan. The surveys closed on February 9. Complete results from the surveys are expected soon. &lt;br /&gt;
An initial report reveals that 12,855 responses were made to the surveys, including 4,609 students who responded to the survey regarding the strategic plan, and 2,087 teachers and other staff and 2,336 community members who responded to the budget and strategic plan surveys. &lt;br /&gt;
Among community members who responded to the survey regarding development of a strategic plan, 45 percent had attended at least one school board meeting in the past year, and 49 percent had attended PTA meetings. Those numbers showed, Raymond said, that many of the community members responding to the surveys are already somewhat or very involved in schools. &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;The advice we received from everyone is tremendously valuable,&amp;rdquo; Raymond said. &amp;ldquo;We must find a way, however, to strengthen our engagement with the community and encourage more people who are not involved in our schools now to speak up and be heard from.&amp;rdquo; &lt;br /&gt;
Raymond said the surveys will help him realize his top priorities for the school district &amp;ndash;making sure every school has a strong principal and quality teachers in every classroom, and that the district fully engages parents and the community. &lt;br /&gt;
As state revenues have fallen, SCUSD has cut more than $144 million from its budget over the past seven years. Raymond said up to $30 million more in cuts are needed to balance the 2010-11 budget. &lt;br /&gt;
Ranking of top budget priorities of community, employees&lt;br /&gt;
Survey results, SCUSD (January 19-February 9, 2010)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Community Rank&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;Employee Rank&lt;br /&gt;
Small class sizes&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; #1&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; #1&lt;br /&gt;
Textbooks&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;#2&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; #3&lt;br /&gt;
Gifted &amp;amp; Talented Ed.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;#3&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;#17&lt;br /&gt;
Clean schools&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;#4&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;#4&lt;br /&gt;
One principal per school&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;#5&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; #2&lt;br /&gt;
Art and Music Ed&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; #6&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; #7&lt;br /&gt;
Central office support&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;#7&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; #11&lt;br /&gt;
Adult education programs&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;#8&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;#19&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Asked what moves by the school district they would support to help solve the budget crisis, community members and teachers and staff agreed that closing under enrolled schools is a top option. The budget survey showed 75 percent of teachers and staff and 67 percent of parents and community members would support closing under enrolled schools. In addition, 53 percent of community members favored closing low performing schools as a way of balancing the budget. The same majority, 53 percent, of SCUSD administrative staff favored closing low performing schools to help deal with the budget crisis, while only 25 percent of teachers favored such a move. &lt;br /&gt;
Raymond said he understands and appreciates the suggestion to look at under-performing and under-enrolled schools so the district can operate more effectively and efficiently. &amp;ldquo;Given the large number of things that school consolidation touches, I will take the public&amp;rsquo;s suggestion and work so we can do it in the most effective way possible. &lt;br /&gt;
We will seek further input from the public and develop a full process for school closings as we consider it for the following year 2011-2012. I believe we need to invest the time to get this right.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ways to help close the budget deficit&lt;br /&gt;
(Percentage who support action)&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Community Teachers Admin. Staff&lt;br /&gt;
Close under enrolled schools&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 67%&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 75%&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 88%&lt;br /&gt;
Close low performing schools&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;53%&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 25%&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 53%&lt;br /&gt;
Furlough days for employees&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;39%&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 41%&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;71%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Superintendent Raymond said he wants to make a special effort to keep budget cuts away from arts and music programs this year because those programs have been hit so hard in the past. The strategic plan survey showed the community members believe effectiveness of SCUSD&amp;rsquo;s fine arts programs is one of its biggest weaknesses, with 89 percent of community members rating fine arts in schools as important but only 36 percent saying the school district does an effective job with arts education. &lt;br /&gt;
The strategic plan survey showed Raymond is right to be concerned about the district&amp;rsquo;s historic lack of parent engagement. The survey showed that 93 percent of community members rated parent engagement as important but that only 57 percent believe the district actually does an effective job in parent engagement. &lt;br /&gt;
The superintendent&amp;rsquo;s goal of having an effective teacher in every classroom also is supported by the strategic plan survey. The survey showed that 97 percent of community members rated having effective teachers as critical to success, but only 64 percent said SCUSD is doing a good job of providing effective teachers, a gap of 33 percentage points. &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;We have learned a lot from these surveys. We learned we need to listen to what our students have to say, and that in many respects teachers and parents are on the same page when it comes to what&amp;rsquo;s best for children. But we also learned we need to try harder to reach and involve our whole community in improving schools, and that the community indeed wants an effective teacher in every classroom&amp;rdquo; Raymond said. &amp;ldquo;We have a big job ahead of us, but we&amp;rsquo;re working hard to get it done.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.scusd.edu/Pages/default.aspx"&gt;Visit the Sacramento City Unified School District Web Site&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</content>
    <dc:creator>Mike Simpson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-02-19T19:49:48Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="text">City schools chief to announce proposed budget reductions to meet $30.6 million deficit in 2010-11</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/22394/City_schools_chief_to_announce_proposed_budget_reductions_to_meet_306_million_deficit_in_201011" />
    <author>
      <name>Mike Simpson</name>
    </author>
    <id>headline-22394</id>
    <updated>2010-02-19T05:53:25Z</updated>
    <published>2010-02-19T05:53:25Z</published>
    <content type="html">&lt;p style="text-align: center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; 
&lt;p style="text-align: center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;City schools chief to announce proposed budget reductions to meet $30.6 million deficit in 2010-11&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Superintendent leads the way with $5.95 million in central office cuts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; 
&lt;p style="text-align: left"&gt;By Maria L. Lopez&lt;/p&gt; 
&lt;p style="text-align: left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Sacramento City Unified School District Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond will announce tonight at the Board of Education meeting that his leadership team and central office staff will “lead the way” in working to meet a projected $30.6 million deficit in the 2010-11 budget as he announces specific recommendations such as three furlough days for his top staff and unrepresented employees and $5.95 million in other reductions at SCUSD’s central office. The board item is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m. at the district headquarters, 5735 47th Ave. (Reporters: Please note that the time of the item may change as the meeting proceeds.)&lt;br /&gt; “I would not ask other employees to make sacrifices unless we at central office are leading by example,” Raymond said. “These are difficult times, but our mission is the education of children and that has to be our first priority, painful as these proposals are,” the superintendent stated. &lt;br /&gt; Other proposed savings or recommendations will include $15 million from the district’s discretionary programs known as Tier III categorical programs such as class size reduction, vocational education programs, adult education and deferred maintenance. Raymond will also propose that he and central office unrepresented staff take three furlough days a year. Additionally, he is proposing almost $5.95 million in reductions from central office. Administrative services would make cuts of $900,000; Capital Asset Management Services—the district’s operations and maintenance offices—would trim its expenses by $1.9 million; Education Services by $2.2 million; Human Resources by $662,000; and the Superintendent will cut his operating budget by $288,000. &lt;br /&gt; The remainder of the proposed budget reductions are “options of last resort” that could be eliminated or modified if the district is able to secure concessions from its bargaining units. Among the proposals to be presented Thursday evening are increasing class size to 30 from 25 at the K-3 level, reducing or eliminating counselor and psychologists and reducing our deferred maintenance match. “We are in negotiations now with our bargaining units, and we hope to avoid these measures which no one wants to see,” Raymond said. “We have already reduced our budget by $144 million over the past seven years, and the easy cuts and one time funds are exhausted; the easy solutions are gone,” he added. &lt;br /&gt; The Superintendent said while recent survey results indicated the community wanted the district to consider consolidating schools, he believed that more work and public input is needed given the large number of things that school consolidation touches so school consolidations will not be considered for 2010-11.&lt;br /&gt; Raymond said a special effort is being made to keep cuts away from arts and music programs because they have been hit hard in the past. &lt;br /&gt; Raymond said that the “worst case scenario” presented tonight is necessary because state law requires the district to present a balanced budget plan to the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) by March 15. Failure to meet this legal requirement would result in a “negative status” from SCOE. SCOE would then assume financial authority over the district. “We would lose the right to make decisions about our own schools,” Raymond said. “That will not happen on my watch.”&lt;br /&gt; Tonight’s presentation is for “conference,” and a vote is expected to occur at the Board’s March 4 meeting.&lt;br /&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; 
&lt;p style="text-align: left"&gt;Visit the Sacramento City Unified School District Web Site&lt;/p&gt;</content>
    <dc:creator>Mike Simpson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-02-19T05:53:25Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="text">First  Community Budget Forum Tonight at C.K. McClatchy High School</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/22311/First_Community_Budget_Forum_Tonight_at_CK_McClatchy_High_School" />
    <author>
      <name>Mike Simpson</name>
    </author>
    <id>headline-22311</id>
    <updated>2010-02-17T19:39:13Z</updated>
    <published>2010-02-17T19:39:13Z</published>
    <content type="html">&lt;p style="text-align: center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sac City Unified announces six community budget forums as district prepares to close $30 million shortfall&lt;br /&gt;
District has cut more than $144 million in seven years&lt;br /&gt;
By Maria L. Lopez &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: left"&gt;After seven consecutive years of budget cuts totaling more than $144 million, Sacramento City Unified School District is again preparing for another $30 million reduction for the 2010-11 budget, and has announced six community forums to share information and gather public input.&lt;br /&gt;
The forums follow two broad-based and historic public surveys, also designed to get the public&amp;rsquo;s advice on dealing with the budget shortfall and developing a strategic plan that accelerates student achievement and meets the goal of ensuring students are college- and career-ready upon graduation.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;Public engagement and transparency are essential to building a successful school system that is credible and supported by our parents and community,&amp;rdquo; SCUSD Superintendent Jonathan Raymond said. &amp;ldquo;Public input and communication are even more essential during periods of critical decision making.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;We are facing such a time now. We need to meet a $30 million projected deficit in 2010-11, while accelerating the academic achievement of our students,&amp;rdquo; Raymond continued. &amp;ldquo;If we do not balance our budget, the decision making authority for Sacramento schools could be stripped from the people of Sacramento and the school district. We must never allow that to happen. Our decisions over the next several weeks will affect our students, our dedicated employees and our public,&amp;rdquo; Raymond said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Schedule of SCUSD Community Budget Forums&lt;br /&gt;
All budget forums are scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the following locations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Wednesday, Feb. 16 C.K. McClatchy High School 3066 Freeport Blvd.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Tuesday, Feb. 23 Rosemont High School 9594 Kiefer Blvd.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Wednesday, Feb. 24 Luther Burbank High School 3500 Florin Rd.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Wednesday, March 3 John F. Kennedy High School 6715 Gloria Dr.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Wednesday, March 17 Oak Park Community Center 3425 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.&lt;/li&gt;
    &lt;li&gt;Tuesday, March 23 George Sim Community Center 6207 Logan St.&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
    &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center"&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.scusd.edu/Pages/default.aspx"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Visit the Sacramento City Unified School District Web Site&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content>
    <dc:creator>Mike Simpson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-02-17T19:39:13Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="text">Sacramento City Unified School District Community Budget Forums</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/22200/Sacramento_City_Unified_School_District_Community_Budget_Forums" />
    <author>
      <name>Mike Simpson</name>
    </author>
    <id>headline-22200</id>
    <updated>2010-02-13T17:58:54Z</updated>
    <published>2010-02-13T17:58:54Z</published>
    <content type="html">&lt;p style="text-align: left; "&gt;&amp;nbsp;The budget and strategic plan survey of the community is complete. These surveys  mark the a new commitment by SCUSD to listening to our community, consulting the  community on important decisions and providing the public open access to our  work in leading the district.&amp;nbsp; The data will be accumulated and we will report  on the results of the surveys as soon as possible. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Superentendent  Jonathan Raymond announced that the district has scheduled four community forums  to discuss the budget. These forums seek to gain recommendations from the public  on how the district should deal with a budget shortfall of up to $30 million.  &amp;ldquo;In the end, the school board will make the tough decisions about how to balance  the budget and will set a direction for the district with the new strategic  plan. But these forums are allowing us to have a conversation with the people of  Sacramento &amp;ndash; teachers, parents and community members alike &amp;ndash; like never before  in our history. These conversations are vitally important and are giving us a  window into the community&amp;rsquo;s thoughts and ideas about the kind of schools they  want. We want to make sure everyone takes this opportunity to be heard,&amp;rdquo;  Superintendent Raymond said.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Each is scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30  p.m.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Feb. 17 &amp;ndash; McClatchy High School, 3066 Freeport Blvd.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Feb. 23  &amp;ndash; Rosemont High School, 9594 Kiefer Blvd.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; Feb. 24 &amp;ndash; Luther Burbank High  School, 3500 Florin Road&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;bull; March 3 &amp;ndash; location to be announced&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;It's  absolutely critical that the community is part of these decisions. It's their  schools, after all.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: left; "&gt;Go to the &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.scusd.edu/Pages/default.aspx"&gt;SCUSD Web Site&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content>
    <dc:creator>Mike Simpson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-02-13T17:58:54Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="text">The survey of the community and employees regarding SCUSD's budget and strategic plan is complete.</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/22021/The_survey_of_the_community_and_employees_regarding_SCUSDs_budget_and_strategic_plan_is_complete" />
    <author>
      <name>Mike Simpson</name>
    </author>
    <id>headline-22021</id>
    <updated>2010-02-11T16:30:00Z</updated>
    <published>2010-02-11T16:30:00Z</published>
    <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;These surveys mark the beginning of a new commitment by SCUSD to listening to our community, consulting the community on important decisions and providing the public open access to our work in leading the district. We thank everyone for their enthusiastic participation in these historic surveys. The data will be accumulated and we will report on the results of the surveys as soon as possible. We also will contact those community members who provided us email addresses when the survey results are tabulated.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</content>
    <dc:creator>Mike Simpson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-02-11T16:30:00Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="text">Historic Surveys on Public Schools Draw Strong Interest</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/21685/Historic_Surveys_on_Public_Schools_Draw_Strong_Interest" />
    <author>
      <name>Mike Simpson</name>
    </author>
    <id>headline-21685</id>
    <updated>2010-02-04T02:55:52Z</updated>
    <published>2010-02-04T02:55:52Z</published>
    <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;SCUSD superintendent urges community to weigh in before surveys close one week from today&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;The Sacramento school district&amp;rsquo;s historic public surveys on its budget and strategic planning have drawn more than 11,000 responses so far, and Superintendent Jonathan Raymond Tuesday urged parents, teachers and students to take the surveys before the Feb. 9 deadline in one week. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-spacerun:yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;This first-of-its-kind effort to involve Sacramento residents in the improvement of their public schools involves a pair of surveys on school improvements and the district&amp;rsquo;s budget. Every Sacramento community member&amp;mdash;including parents, teachers and other employees of the district&amp;mdash;is being asked to respond to the surveys that will yield for school board members and the superintendent a treasure trove of information about the community&amp;rsquo;s needs and priorities for public schools. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;&amp;ldquo;We&amp;rsquo;ve had an excellent response from teachers, parents, students and community members so far. With their responses to these surveys, they are giving the school board and the administration very valuable information to help to make tough decisions on the budget and to help us to plan where we the Sacramento City Unified School District should be headed in the future,&amp;rdquo; Superintendent Raymond said. &amp;ldquo;There is still time, though, for more citizens to go online to participate and make sure their voices are heard.&amp;rdquo; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Community members and employees should log on to the district website, www.scusd.edu, to take part before Feb. 9. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;One survey is designed to gain recommendations from the public on how the district should deal with a budget shortfall of up to $30 million.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun:yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The other survey will help district leaders design a new strategic plan to improve every school.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun:yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;While the community has one more week to weigh in on the issues, the surveys already are producing trends for school district officials. For example, large numbers of community members who have already responded reported that keeping class sizes small and making sure children have textbooks are important considerations for the budget. Teachers and staff, meanwhile, also are trending toward small classes and textbooks as very important&lt;span style="mso-spacerun:yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;considerations for the budget, along with making sure every school has its own principal. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Students surveyed for their thoughts on the development of the district&amp;rsquo;s strategic plan are reporting that having good teachers and principals and feeling safe at school are the most important considerations.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-spacerun:yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;ldquo;In the end, the school board will make the tough decisions about how to balance the budget and will set a direction for the district with the new strategic plan. But these surveys are allowing us to have a conversation with the people of Sacramento &amp;ndash; teachers, parents and community members alike &amp;ndash; like never before in our history. These conversations are vitally important and are giving us a window into the community&amp;rsquo;s thoughts and ideas about the kind of schools they want. We want to make sure everyone takes this opportunity to be heard,&amp;rdquo; Superintendent Raymond said. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;The surveys were developed by K12 Insight with input from district officials and community members who were part of a special community wide focus group convened Jan. 12. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;More than 3,800 responses to the surveys have been received from Sac City teachers, and nearly 3,000 responses have been received from parents and other community members so far. Students were invited to respond to the strategic plan survey, and more than 4,200 students have done so. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;The surveys are anonymous. The surveys are returned electronically to K12 Insight, which produces reports for the school district based on the results. No names of respondents are attached to the reports provided to the school district. Results will be shared with the community the week of Feb. 15. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Parent surveys are available in Hmong and Spanish in addition to English. Parents who cannot access the surveys online may call (916) 643-9420 for a paper copy of the survey.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content>
    <dc:creator>Mike Simpson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-02-04T02:55:52Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title type="text">SCUSD budget gap grows by $10 million</title>
    <link rel="alternate" href="http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/20813/SCUSD_budget_gap_grows_by_10_million" />
    <author>
      <name>Mike Simpson</name>
    </author>
    <id>headline-20813</id>
    <updated>2010-01-20T01:40:02Z</updated>
    <published>2010-01-20T01:40:02Z</published>
    <content type="html">&lt;p style="text-align: center; "&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;SCUSD budget gap grows by $10 million&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;School district facing eighth year of reductions&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: left; "&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Story By &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.scusd.edu/Pages/default.aspx"&gt;Maria L. Lopez&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Photo by &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/"&gt;BigEducationApe.blogspot.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Surveys by &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.k12insight.com/"&gt;K12 &lt;/a&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.k12insight.com/"&gt;Insight&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Sacramento City Unified School Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond announced today that the district will need to reduce its 2010-11 general fund budget by $28 to $30 million. The projection was readjusted after review of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger&amp;rsquo;s budget proposals.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Raymond said the district had expected to trim $18 million from next year&amp;rsquo;s budget but revised the estimate after the Governor&amp;rsquo;s proposals were released.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Raymond said that since 2002-03, SCUSD has cut more than $144 million from its budget. &amp;ldquo;While the news is not good, we will do what we have to do to meet the needs of our students. We will need the best thinking and efforts of everyone from our staff and parents to community members to meet this new challenge,&amp;rdquo; Raymond stated. &amp;ldquo;The priority will be students and what we need to do to create a positive future for them.&amp;rdquo; The superintendent said the district is undertaking two surveys to gather community input to create a strategic plan and budget. Focus groups were conducted earlier this week to help craft the surveys which will be posted on the district&amp;rsquo;s web site Jan. 19. &amp;ldquo;We will use our strategic plan as the filter to plan our budget for next year and beyond, and public engagement is critical to the process,&amp;rdquo; Raymond said. &amp;ldquo;We will ask whether each dollar spent and every budget cut puts kids first and supports student learning.&amp;rdquo; He said the fiscal challenge &amp;ldquo;cannot and will not&amp;rdquo; be&lt;br /&gt;
used as an excuse for not meeting the needs of students.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;&amp;ldquo;Everything is on the table, and we will be looking at every part of the budget&amp;mdash;not just personnel costs which represent 80 to 85 percent of our budget. This requires us to work with all of our unions to get control of our costs to ensure we create a future for our kids. We need to find savings, and we need to generate revenue,&amp;rdquo; Raymond said.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-align: center; "&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;STRATEGIC PLANNING SURVEY &amp;amp; BUDGET SURVEY&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:center"&gt;&lt;span class="MsoHyperlink"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#E64D4D;text-decoration:none;text-underline:
none"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.scusd.edu/Pages/default.aspx"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Sacramento City Unified School District&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="MsoHyperlink"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;wants to hear from you!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Please take both surveys.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:center"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;STRATEGIC PLANNING SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;&lt;a href="http://research.zarca.com/k/RsWWPSsRsQVYRXUsPsP"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#E64D4D"&gt;Take Survey Now&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:center"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BUDGET SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align:center;line-height:15.0pt"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;&lt;a href="http://research.zarca.com/k/RsWWPSsVsQVYSRXsPsP"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#E64D4D"&gt;Take Survey Now&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align:center;line-height:15.0pt"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;Go to&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.scusd.edu/Pages/default.aspx"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color:#CC0000;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none"&gt;Sacramento City Unified School District&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;i&gt;&amp;nbsp;Web Site&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-align:center"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</content>
    <dc:creator>Mike Simpson</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-01-20T01:40:02Z</dc:date>
  </entry>
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