It seems Gov. Brown and our state Legislature just want more of our hard-earned money so they can continue putting off making the tough budgetary decisions they were elected to make.
An Offer We Can't Refuse
Gov. Brown is acting more like a street thug extorting protection money from local store owners. He thinks he has made us “an offer we can't refuse” when he suggests that we need to pay more state taxes or else. Pay more now or else something bad will happen to our children.
Status Quo
He points out that passing his tax initiative would help stave off the planned, draconian cuts to our children’s education. In other words, do as he says, pay up, and he will see to it that our school districts are left untouched by state cuts, this time around. As if the status quo actually was an acceptable alternative.
In the past, when California voters decided to increase our taxes, we usually got something in return. Something changed for the better. It was not just a continuation of the status quo.
They Got the Power
Do not forget it was the state Legislature that suspended Prop. 98, the people’s mandate, establishing minimum state funding for K-12 education. The state Legislature keeps extending its right to “defer” state funding from local school districts, year after year, with no end in sight.
Reneging on Promises
There always is the diabolical possibility of having the state Legislature renege on its promise to pay back the money it already has withheld from K-12 education funding these last four years.
Nothing Is Sacred
Look what the state did to the 400 local Redevelopment Agencies across California. The Legislature could just as easily, by a simple majority vote, let itself off the hook and renege on its promises to pay back those deferred District funds, too. Of course, this also would be done in the name of fiscal responsibility.
Running on Empty
At its current rate of deficit spending, CCUSD will deplete its reserve fund by 2014 if nothing is done or without meaningful cuts. Nothing will be left to fall back on in the next round of state-wide deferrals.
If the governor’s tax initiative does not pass, he warns that school districts will have to take as many as 15 furlough days (three weeks of school) to help balance the state’s budget. Who or what is the governor protecting when he suggests taking furlough days:
District employee salaries or our children’s education?
No Furlough Days
Locally, we should not offer furlough days as part of our solution. Furlough days rob our children of their education by forcing them out of their classrooms.
Across the Board
Cutting three weeks of school is equal to an 8 to 10 percent reduction. If and when future cuts are needed, furlough days should be kept off the negotiating table. True salary cuts should be made across the board to rightly balance our District budget and keep our children in class.
Setting Priorities
If voters decide not to pass the governor’s tax-increase offer, his proposed deep cuts will force our community to reexamine our District priorities, decide what is most important to our community and reaffirm the reason we send our children to school.
Do we send our children to school to enrich those District employees who serve them? Or do we to enrich their lives with a quality education?
Ultimate Fiscal Responsibility
Make no mistake, even though these promised drastic cuts must be negotiated at the local level, the ultimate responsibility for having to make these deep cuts will fall squarely on our state legislators, not local school districts. For it is the state Legislature’s continued inaction, in sidestepping its responsibility, in resolving our state's on-going funding problems, that ultimately is driving our School District into this budgetary crisis, jeopardizing our children’s education.
Mr. Laase may be contacted at GMLaase@aol.com
