Early this year, our superintendent, David La Rose, agreed to an understanding with the Teachers Union to raise their salaries 10 percent over the next five years to equal the median teacher salary in L.A. County. Though not an official, binding agreement, all members of the School Board nonetheless started the process last May. They unanimously voted a 2 percent, retroactive raise for all School District employees back to July 1, 2012.
New State Spending Formula
California’s 2013-14 state budget calls for a shifting in state education funding called Local Control Funding Formula. This new formula changes state funding priorities by giving poorer, lower-achieving school districts about 30 percent more money to educate their socially and economically disadvantaged students.
Outfunded
Almost half of the unified school districts in the County (20 of 46) are in line to receive this increased funding. The reconfigured funding will amount to an Average Daily Attendance allotment of $11,150 per student, almost 20 percent more than the $9,400 our District will be receiving.
Sisyphus Knows the Feeling
It is hard enough for a small district such as ours to keep up with the district behemoths, like LAUSD and Long Beach USD or the smaller but more affluent Palos Verdes and Manhattan Beach districts. Almost half of the districts in this county will received more in Average Daily Attendance funding than Culver City.
Skewing County Salaries
No doubt our state’s new redistribution of student funding will skew teacher pay throughout the County. How is Culver City going to reach the teachers’ preferred goal if all this shifting of funds drives up the County’s median salary even higher?
We may have to rethink, even abandon, the gentlemen’s agreement between the District leadership and the Teachers Union.
Keeping up with the local Joneses is one matter. It is altogether different, though, to stay abreast of all the Joneses in this County. It is common sense for a smaller district like ours to stay focused within our own means, especially when our County neighbors will continue to have a built-in funding advantage.
Mr. Laase may be contacted at GMLaase@aol.com
