I’m writing to clarify a few of the points that David Mielke, the President of the Teachers Union, made on May 2 (‘Teachers Union President Fires Back Against 2 or 3% Pay Cut Idea’) in response to Patricia Tam’s letter of May 1 (‘A Strategy for School Board: Let Teachers Take 3% Pay Cut’).
In light of the fact that the School District is potentially looking at a reduction in state funding in the neighborhood of $3.2 million, every budget item impacting the General Fund (Unrestricted Moneys) has to be considered.
Bear in mind that it could be even worse, based on news from Sacramento that the State deficit could be as high as $20 billion. There’s no hope of our self-called “leaders” doing the right thing by any of us to rein in the spending.
As a member of the Community Budget Advisory Committee since its inception, I’ve been through the cutting cycle before with the District.
There is NEVER a good time to cut positions or budgets. Remember that positions are people — teachers, counselors and clerical staff. They are our neighbors and our children’s mentors.
Beginning last fall, it was obvious that the State’s failure to control spending was going to wreak havoc on every school district. The big question then was how much?
District Administrators, principals and managers began the process of examining cuts. CBAC added more recommendations, and created a list of 65 potential cuts. Over two meetings, we prioritized these recommendations after discussion of the impact each would have on the District, and more importantly on the PEOPLE affected by the cuts.
It was not an easy process. Not many items were approved by consensus.
We did discuss a reduction in services for the Public Relations budget. But we DID NOT want to see that service cut. When school districts face challenges, communication becomes the most important tool to promote understanding.
While I personally chastised the School Board for taking on a website contract last year, I fully understood the need to have a website, have it be done professionally, and have the presence shine a positive light on our schools and city.
In good conscience, I could not have made a high priority of eliminating the expenditure. These two items are integral to communication with the school, home and general citizenry.
It has been a high priority of CBAC to reduce health and welfare benefits to School Board members since its inception.
Hopefully, many of you remember the overpayment of benefits to past and current Board members who refused to reimburse the District, even when it was brought to their attention.
In meantime, Board members have had limitations placed on the amounts that they can receive. I personally believe that if any benefits are provided to them, that it cover only the individual Board member.
David Mielke is not realistic in believing that students can handle a website. He also doesn’t mention that the teacher at the High School would have to be paid a hefty stipend to supervise such an undertaking. In fact, I would suggest that it would be a fulltime job. It would end up costing the District more than the $30,000 per year it is paying professionals.
In regard to the reorganization of the Security Department, CBAC has indeed recommended the elimination of the Security Director, which is an administrative position (no security work is done), and a dispatch/clerical position. As of this date, the Board has not made those cuts, though it is likely that they will have to be made eventually.
There are still another $1 million in cuts that will be made based on the January State budget proposals.
The District won’t have any further information to work with until the governor releases his May Revise on May 14.
Once that happens, and I would anticipate that everyone would be scrambling to make more cuts, the Board can start firming up more of the cuts that have been recommended to them by CBAC.
Bear in mind that this cycle of feast and famine for school districts never will get any better until school funding formulas are changed legislatively
(Fat chance of that ever happening.)
The only thing that any of us can do to promote this change is to nag the Board to lobby legislators, as they should already be doing each time they meet with them, and write to them ourselves.
Change will not start for the top here.
It’s up to us.
