Monterey County Schools Would: Lose Millions Under Governor’s Proposal

January 19, 2010

Salinas teachers and administrators are keeping a close eye on the governor’s budget proposal.The financial blueprint, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released Jan. 8, would cut deep and wide across California public education.

Funding for school district administration would drop by $1.2 billion, for county offices of education by $45 million, and the state’s class-size reduction program would lose $550 million, in addition to other cuts.

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The pain would find its way to the Salinas area. If the budget were approved as it is now, the Monterey County Office of Education would lose 8.2 percent of its funding, or $750,000, said Gary Bousum, MCOE associate superintendent.

County schools would also lose $14.6 million from cuts to be carried over from the previous year — about $201 per student annually, Bousum said.

On Jan. 12, at least 10 Salinas Valley school administrators traveled to Sacramento for the School Services of California Governor’s Budget Conference. During the event, SSC staff gave administrators a detailed outline about how the new proposed budget would affect public education.

Despite the cuts outlined at the conference, some administrators found solace.
"There’s a sign of relief that they are not targeting education," Jim Earhart, Salinas Union High School District superintendent, told trustees at a school board meeting Jan. 12. "But we are not out of the woods yet. We will still be operating with $1,500 less per student compared to 2007-08."

Earhart had traveled to Sacramento earlier that day, along with other administrators from MCOE and a bevy of local school districts, including Salinas City Elementary, Alisal Union, Santa Rita, King City Joint, Greenfield Union, Gonzales Unified, North Monterey County Unified and Washington Union.

Alisal Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas said staffing at the district level is already cut to the bone.

"We have been preparing for the last two years [for state cuts]," Zendejas said. "We’ve managed to cut $2 million by cutting 11 progr am managers, froze positions and reduced several positions from assistant superintendent to directors — which accounts for a salary reduction."

Nancy Kotowski, the county’s superintendent of schools, said the cuts to her office would make it difficult to perform its duties, which include providing special education services to school districts in the county, overseeing school budgets and providing curriculum and other services.

"County offices of education provide a vital role in education," Kotowski said. "We have many mandated responsibilities to fulfill."

Cuts to administration were aimed at keeping the cuts as far away from the classroom as possible, Schwarzenegger said when he made the budget proposal public.
But teachers aren’t all that happy.

The governor has proposed changing the state education code to give districts more power and flexibility to lay off, transfer, re-assign or rehire teachers without regard to seniority.

Some teachers in the Salinas Union High School District call the proposed changes an "assault on seniority."

"This is ripe for abuse," Peggy Carroll, Salinas Valley Federation of Teachers union co-president said. "There needs to be a fair and equitable evaluation."

Teachers with the greatest seniority are also the highest-paid in any public school district.

Carroll declined to comment on the proposed changes to the education code but talked about how important having experienced teachers is to student achievement. At the end of the day, she sai d, "experience counts."