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School Crisis State squeeze feels like chalk on a blackboard By Jennifer Leuer Like many Inland Empire parents, Julie Michaels has watched the news coverage of California lawmakers arguing about the budget. And she has felt the very real impact of the budget crunch at her children's school. Smiley Elementary School's librarian, music and art teacher and even the assistant principal all work part time now. Teachers' supply budgets were cut and the Redlands school district eliminated four bus routes to free up funds. Smiley's PTA will add an extra fund-raiser next year just to help teachers cover the cost of classroom materials. And Smiley's parents, grandparents and former students will continue to come back and volunteer to help supplement student education. "At our school, we have 10,000 volunteer hours a year, on average, and that doesn't count corporations giving programs and offering volunteers," Michaels says. She will be PTA president next year. "So there is support, but there is only so much the volunteers are going to be able to offer. "My greater concern is what does the future hold then? I don't see this being a one-year crisis and then next year we have this wonderful answer, and therefore down the road won't have any additional impact at our schools. That's the concern - what's the long-term effect going to be? That is very unknown and I think the unknown is something even scarier than knowing exactly what's going to happen." The sun has once again set on California's boom times; the state is now dealing with the darkness of a budget crisis. Perhaps some of the deepest shadows have fallen on California's K-12 campuses. The state's schools started feeling the squeeze of increasing costs and static revenues two years ago. Many rolled back smaller class sizes in third grade, others cut teaching positions, librarians and the music and art programs that had been built up as California's economy prospered. Now the squeeze has turned into a choke, and school districts are running out of palatable options to conserve dollars. Cutting to the bone How much more can the system take before students suffer? Some feel most schools can weather this storm and, while cuts are unpleasant, California's youth can still get a quality education. But many feel students are missing out now, and schools are further cutting programs essential to good education. "I believe our school board and district office are trying very hard to look at what would have the least direct impact on the children," says Michaels. "But there's not a lot of extra to cut and, yes, at some point it's going to have an immediate direct impact on education. When you have huge cuts...there is only so much you can do in reducing programs, or the 'stuff.' As we continue on in a crisis, it's going to affect people. And that's when it starts to impact the education." Jeannine Martineau, a Lake Elsinore Unified trustee and president of the California School Boards Association, spent the summer making that point to California's legislators. She lobbied to keep last-minute budget negotiations from eliminating more education funding. "Every district has pretty much already cut anything that is non-essential," she says. "They're down to bare bone. So the cuts that are being made right now cut to the quick. We're now in a position where we're going to impact the classroom and student learning." Districts around Southern California are grappling with how to maintain the same programs as last year when costs and salaries are rising but their state revenues will be the same, at best. Even after spending cuts, Nuview District will tap more than half of its reserve funds to cover costs for next school year. Districts from Redlands to Hemet to Temecula Valley cut dozens of positions, including some teacher aids. Kindergarten classes in San Jacinto will contain 30 students next year instead of 20. In some areas, parents have mobilized to try to save the popular class size reduction program. In Capistrano Unified School District in Orange County, which is facing a $22 million shortfall next school year, parents rallied to raise the necessary $40,000 per campus to retain smaller class sizes at the third-grade level. Most were successful, but some weren't. "It's just devastating our school district," says James A. Fleming, Capistrano superintendent. "It's a huge cut. We are laying off dozens of people and its affecting everything from the classroom to the custodial ranks." While districts continue to make cuts in preparation for the coming school year, other districts struggled to make ends meet this year. The twice-yearly financial statements that districts file with county offices of education provide a sobering view. During the first part of the 2002-03 school year, 43 out of California's 986 districts received a negative or qualified certification, meaning they were either not able to pay their bills or were in danger of being in that position shortly, according to EdSource. That number jumped to 63 districts in the second part of the year. Good numbers, bad news Adding to the heartbreak of district cuts is their arrival at a time when California had finally started to move up the national rankings in per-student spending. The past five years saw major increases in the state's investment in schools. During the 2000-01 school year, the state move closer to the national average in spending per student, ranking 33rd in the nation compared with its 1997-98 ranking of 40th, according to EdSource, the nonprofit that provides timely information about public schools. The state also ranked third for its average teacher salary that year. Richard Moore, librarian for the Orange County Department of Education, attests to the real impact the additional funds had on schools' reading and research centers. Moore says California set aside a whopping $28 per student for library resources the past four years to help rebuild schools' collections. In 1998, the average copyright of a school library book was 1970. After four years of increased funding, that average had jumped to 1987. Computer catalogues were created, databases set up and magazine subscriptions purchased. "When the money started coming in, we were able to weed through the collections," he says. At one school, he found a book on owls that reported, "You can find owls in all of the 48 states." But the momentum is now gone. This year, school libraries will be lucky to get $3.45 per student. That drop in money will leave renewal subscriptions unpaid and few new books coming into libraries. While the extra funds helped immensely, the average copyright is still more than 15 years old. Children left behind Libraries have been only one area in which California has focused its reform efforts in recent years. New standards, new statewide tests and high-stakes accountability measures all are designed to improve student achievement in every state school. Most recently, the federal government raised the bar by passing No Child Left Behind, requiring that schools pay for additional support for students not making adequate yearly progress. Yet, as California slips into budget troubles, there is much fear about what that means for education reforms. "I think there are big challenges and people are hoping schools can stay focused on these expectations and try to keep the priorities around student achievement in the midst of having to make cuts," says Mary Perry, deputy director of EdSource. "If we're trying to improve our expectations and performance of all kids and address the gap in achievement, then that means you need to invest more in the education of kids who come to school with less of the basic knowledge and skills they need to be successful. You have to decide what supplemental instruction you need to invest in to help them catch up. And additional instruction equals more people and that equals money." EdSource has developed a video that explores California's move to standards-based reforms, and also the challenges districts face in maintaining the focus on that in the midst of this budget crisis. But how deep the impact will be largely depends on the district, and varies greatly among districts, she says. Variables are many, and can include how conservative a district's administrators were when they projected state funds, how senior their teaching staff is or how aggressive their unions are negotiating. "I believe there are some districts that are basically going to be able to maintain their programs and ride this one out," she says. "That doesn't mean they aren't cutting things they didn't wish they had to. But some are certainly in better position than others. There are so many variables, but I think it's fair to say there is no district in the state that isn't feeling squeezed, that isn't having to look at cuts somewhere." Those cuts, no matter how incremental they may seem, will at some point ripple through society over time, Martineau adds. "Kids walk into our classrooms in kindergarten and we have them until the day high school ends," she says. "What we have done in the classroom with those kids will impact their life forever. If we don't have the tools or resources to do it right, we can't recall these kids. We can't send out a notice and say, `We didn't teach you this right so you have to come back' and teach them again. They keep going through the system." Inland Empire future When Michaels thinks about the future of California's schools, she has mixed feelings. On one hand, she believes Smiley and other Redlands schools will fare well and survive this test. "We have parents involved and parents who care about other kids, more than just their own kids," she says. "Because the community is so committed, I don't think I have as much of a local concern. I think people will do whatever it takes to ensure our kids have a quality education." But then she reads the newspaper and sees that Oregon simply ended the school year early because the state ran out of funds. "I thought, `You just stopped the school year?' Then I wonder, are we headed toward bankruptcy as a state? Our credit rating is the lowest in the nation. We should have the best. We are so rich with resources here. Things get so political and I think we forget the impact we have on people, and the impact is on kids and seniors. It just breaks my heart. When we get to the end of this tunnel, I hope we're not on that path. But I'm not sure about the long-term viability of the state." Jennifer Leuer of Yorba Linda is an education reporter. To reach her: leuer.ramus@sbcglobal.net. |
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