Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "california teachers association"

School board approves cuts to teachers, sports and band in 'worst-case scenario' budget

2011-03-05T01:43:38Z

The Sacramento City Unified School District board unanimously voted to balance the district's projected “worst-case” budget shortfall of $22.35 million by eliminating financial support for sports, drama, yearbook, newspaper, marching band, cheerleading and speech and debate.

The proposal is to eliminate “extra pay for extra-duty stipends,” uniform replacements funds, athletic trainer funds and co-curricular transportation funds for a savings of $1.26 million, according to the district.

Board members also voted to reduce the district’s counseling staff by 37 percent, eliminating one assistant principal position at each high school and raising K-3 class sizes at two grade levels. The board previously approved raising class sizes for all other grades – including 40 students per teacher at the high school level.

“It's a horrible scenario. The superintendent and board will still continue to look for ways to fund these programs,” said spokesman Gabe Rosson Friday morning.

The district is racing to meet a March 15 deadline to present a balanced budget to the Sacramento County Office of Education or risk receiving a “negative” rating, which could lead to state takeover. This year’s budgeting process is especially challenging, as the state’s funding of K-12 districts hinges on voters extending current temporary taxes in a June 7 special election.

Gov. Jerry Brown is asking for a two-thirds vote in the State Legislature for such a measure and has given legislators a March 10 deadline. If the taxes are not extended, SCUSD will face a $22.35 million shortfall.

Sacramento Teachers Associated President Linda Tuttle said Friday afternoon that she was shocked the cuts went as deep as they did.

So far, the Legislature has not placed tax extensions on the ballot, but Tuttle said she believes it's more than likely they will make it as the Sacramento Metro Chamber announced its support of the tax extensions.

Tuttle said she calls on voters to choose to fund programs they had when they were students. “What do voters value? These are the things they had in schools. We're at the mercy of the voters,” she said.

Tuttle said that if the tax extensions do get on the ballot and pass, the budget situation would be bearable to teachers. They would have to “only cut 6-9 million – we can do that … oh golly, cut only 6-9 million: That's a ridiculous statement.”

Raising class sizes, which must be negotiated with unions, reduces the need for teachers. The board also approved layoff notices to certificated staff, which includes teachers, counselors and other positions.

Tuttle said that teachers agreed last year to keep class sizes down by giving $95 a month to the district. If the worst-case scenario materializes and class sizes go up, she said the union might seek legal action, though they are hoping they won't go that route.

“These proposed cuts are terrible,” said Superintendent Jonathan Raymond. “There isn’t an expendable position in our district. We have no surplus staff. We have no programs that are simply ‘icing on the cake.’ Sports, drama, yearbook – these are programs students need and deserve. Often, these so-called ‘extras’ are the only reason kids come to school.”

SCUSD’s worst-case shortfall is on top of $177 million in cuts to SCUSD’s budget in the last nine years – a 35 percent reduction in what was once a $500 million budget. Even if voters pass tax extensions in a special election, it is projected that more cuts will be needed to balance SCUSD’s budget for next year, due to the lingering recession and enrollment declines in some areas.

As soon as the 3 p.m. bell rang at Hiram Johnson High School, band teacher Kevin Goings was joined with seven students who are part of a drum lineup who, as music director Luana Hernandez said, were playing just to play.

“We're investing in you right now,” Goings, said when one of them missed a beat. The group gathers about four days a week after school and was started about two years ago when Goings revamped the program, explained Hernandez.

Hernandez noted that because stipends are going to be cut, more impoverished schools will suffer more than others.

To raise awareness of budget issues, the district has been holding a series of community forums. The district also has asked its community to participate in a budget priorities survey, which is available at www.scusd.edu.

In a letter to employees, Raymond urged family members, friends and neighbors throughout the state to contact their elected officials to support getting the tax extensions on the June 7 ballot.

“We need the public to understand that years of the state balancing its budget on the backs of kids has eliminated all the easy solutions to public education under-funding,” Raymond said. “As a colleague of mine recently said, not only is all the ‘low-hanging fruit’ gone, the tree is gone.”

Monica Stark can be reached at monica.stark@sacramentopress.com

Education panel: Villaraigosa, Rhee criticize teachers' unions

2010-10-06T05:48:37Z

A high-profile panel that included Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Washington, D.C., Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee met in Sacramento on Tuesday evening and discussed pitfalls in the nation’s education system.

Most of the members of the panel, which also included Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and an official with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said state and national teachers’ unions have made efforts to halt education reforms.

The panel held its discussion after a screening of “Waiting for Superman,” filmmaker Davis Guggenheim’s new documentary about education reform. About 200 people gathered for the screening, including special guests from state government such as California Secretary of Education Bonnie Reiss and California Assembly members Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) and Dan Logue (R-Linda).

Villaraigosa noted that he is a former employee of the California Teachers Association, but faulted the union for opposing changes that he views as reforms.

“I am unabashedly pro-teacher,” Villaraigosa said. “I believe in collective bargaining. But what you see up here is a broken system ... The most powerful defenders of that broken system, without a question, is the teacher’s union.”

The panelists tackled the issue of tenure for teachers, which is a job security guarantee.

Schwarzenegger criticized the practice of tenure for teachers: “I don’t think this is good for the teachers. I don’t think this is good for the kids. I don’t think this is good for the country.”

Rhee, whose rocky relationship with teachers’ unions was profiled in the documentary, said in the panel that contracts with unions need to be changed.

“We need to make sure that we have collective bargaining agreements that are also focused on children, not adults,” Rhee said.

She also called for a “bold” legislative agenda in California that would involve reducing pensions and benefits for teachers and public employees.

Meanwhile, the American Federation of Teachers argues that Guggenheim’s film is misleading.

“The film's central themes—that all public school teachers are bad, that all charter schools are good and that teachers' unions are to blame for failing schools—are incomplete and inaccurate, and they do a disservice to the millions of good teachers in our schools who work their hearts out every day,” according to the AFT website.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Lots at Stake for Sacramento in May 19th Election

2009-04-29T22:49:35Z

It may be the best kept secret in politics: there's a statewide special election on May 19th that could have a greater impact on Sacramento's schools, fire stations, and budget than anything they're doing down at City Hall.

This special election is all about the state budget: the gaping $58 billion hole, and how the Governor and Legislature will go about fixing it. It includes new taxes, shifting of funds, the payback of funds to schools, and "modernizing" the state lottery so that it brings in more cash.

Led by Sacramento's own State Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, the California Teachers Association (CTA), and the California Professional Firefighters Association, the pro-reform forces http://www.cabudgetreformnow.com/splash.php?_c=xxzcw3j20w5zgp say these initiatives are a test of bipartisanship -- a compromise of both the left and the right that will keep the state afloat through tough times. Liberals won revenue increases, conservatives won a soft budget cap to prevent sharp rises in state spending, with the result being a balanced package that nobody seems to love but everyone can live with.

But there's plenty of opposition. On the right, the California Republican Party and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association say any tax increases are acceptable. On the ultra-left, the California Faculty Association and some other labor unions say any cuts and a spending cap are unacceptable.

Meanwhile, the voting public is caught in the cross fire. According to some Field Poll numbers out today, all the initiatives except one are trailing in the polls. But these numbers might well be skewed because of what is expected to be a record low turnout.

Pundits say the main reason voters aren't getting excited about this election is because the ballot initiatives are complex and confusing.

But this much we know: if the initiatives fail to pass, there will be some immediate dire consequences.

As the newly-minted State Senate Republican leader told the Bee today, he will advocate for sharp reductions in state spending across-the-board. The CTA estimates that 75,000 teachers will lose their jobs in August. The California Professional Firefighters Association says it will lead to fire station closures. And health care providers would also be expected to see major cuts in services.

Sacramento's pols are near-unanimous in backing the initiatives. Mayor Kevin Johnson is expected to lead a press conference next week where he'll endorse the initiatives. Supervisor Roger Dickinson was at the California Democratic Party convention in Sacramento where he joined the overwhelming majority of delegates in supporting the propositions. Assemblymember Dave Jones supported the plan when it came to a vote earlier this year.

The Secretary of State's website features a guide to each of the initiatives -- well worth reading if you need to catch up with what's on the ballot. /www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/title-sum/prop1a-title-sum.htm

(Full disclosure: I'm doing some work for the Yes! campaign)