CUCPTSA Legislation Newsletter January 2010

Transcription

1 CUCPTSA Legislation Newsletter January 2010 LOCAL CUSD Budget: The CUSD Board is continuing to attempt to identify $25.1 million in cuts from the 2010/2011 budget. The 1 st interim report was sent to OCDE on December 15 with a qualified budget (rather than a positive budget), since CUSD was not able to identify a total of $25 million in cuts. At the board meeting in December, the budget presentation showed approx $14.8 million in unidentified cuts still needed to reach the target. This is after factoring in potential cuts which include the elimination of: 1 st grade CSR, the IB program, block music, K-8 summer school, resident substitutes, and sports and activities programs. Mid-year cuts are still unknown, but if they do occur, will hopefully be offset by the federal stimulus money (amount not yet released). Upcoming dates for accountability and review: January 8 Governor s budget is released January 12 Budget Calendar and Guidelines/ Board Meeting January 13 School Services Workshop where CUSD finds out the nitty-gritty of the mid-year budget February 9 Board Meeting CUSD Board Meeting Seating Policy: The CUSD Board Room will open ½ hour before closed session. As many seats as possible will be placed in the room, but no standing in the aisles will be allowed. CUSD Board Meeting Dates: At the December 15 Board meeting, the trustees voted to hold two board meetings per month instead of one. The following additional 2010 dates are set to be approved at the next board meeting on January 12: Tuesday February 2 Tuesday March 23 Tuesday April 27 Tuesday May TBD Tuesday July TBD Tuesday August 24 Tuesday September 28 Tuesday October 26 Tuesday November TBD Tuesday December TBD Negotiations (PTA REMAINS NEUTRAL AT ALL TIMES): CUSD negotiation updates/information can be found on the district website. CUEA (Teachers) Fact Finding to take place on January 25 and 26 Fact Finding Process: The fact finding panel will consist of 3 people (CUEA appointee, CUSD appointee, a neutral chairperson agreed upon by both parties) The panel members meet in private over the 2 days to evaluate the positions and data provided by both sides. Within 30 days a report must be issued containing findings of fact and non-binding recommendations. Before the report is made public, the parties have one more chance to meet in closed session to reach a tentative agreement. If they do not, then the Union executive board and the Board of Trustees vote to accept or reject the fact finder s report. This process can take no more than 10 days from the time the report is made public. The fact finding report is advisory only and non-binding. CSEA (Classified Staff) The next scheduled session in January 11.

2 Teamsters The next session is TBD, most likely late January. Dr. Mahler s School District Updates to the Community: In order to make the CUSD community aware of the latest and greatest in the district as well as the severe budget cuts the district is facing due to California s budget problems, Dr. Mahler will be holding information sessions at each High School in late January and early February. Letters to state representatives and the Governor will be available for people to sign. Ballot Measure Changing the Way CUSD Trustees are Elected: At the CUSD Board Meeting on December 15, the trustees voted 7-0 to initiate litigation against the OC Department of Education (OCDE), the OC Committee on School District Organization, and the OC Registrar of Voters, in order to get the election date for this measure changed from June 2010 to November The lawsuit was filed on December 17, and the Santa Ana judge is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks. Charter Schools: At the December 15 th school board meeting, CUSD trustees denied, by a 7-0 vote, the petition submitted by Global Tides seeking approval to establish an on-line e-charter school to serve students in CUSD and the surrounding areas. Voter Registration: Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation allowing the pre-registration of 17 year-olds. Students can now register to vote at age 17 so they can be pre-registered for the first election to occur after they turn 18. High School students may be able to receive a voter registration form from a US Government teacher. STATE Race to the Top: SBx5 4, which contained the parent empowerment and open enrollment provisions, cleared the Assembly and the Senate this week. Its companion bill, SB5x 1, also passed both houses. Both were signed into law by the Governor. Key elements of the package would: Require one of four significant interventions into California's persistently lowest performing campuses: close the school, convert it to a charter, replace the principal and up to 50 percent of staff, or replace the principal and implement numerous other major changes, including enhanced staff training and financial incentives for top teachers. Allow parents at up to 75 failing campuses to trigger one of the four specific interventions or a more general fifth option demanding "major restructuring of the school's governance" by collecting signatures from more than half of students' parents or guardians. Allow students at 1,000 of the state's worst-performing schools to enroll in other school districts. Students at charter, juvenile court and county community schools would be excluded. Creation of a 21-member Academic Content Standards Commission a majority of whose members would be public school teachers to develop new standards in English and mathematics meant to better prepare students for the global economy and to allow better comparison with other states and countries. Improving data collection to ensure that a student's growth can be tracked from year to year; finding ways to emphasize science, technology, engineering and mathematics; and allowing student test scores to be used in evaluating teachers, subject to collective bargaining. creation of alternative credentialing programs for working experts and others seeking to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics or career technical education. State of the State Address 1/6/10:

3 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger gave his final State of the State address to the joint Legislature at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, January 6 th. He opened his speech with the story of his family s pot-bellied pig and miniature horse who regularly work together to open up a canister of dog food in order to eat the contents. For the governor, this story of teamwork showed that by working together, the legislature got California through the front end of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression by closing a more than $60 billion budget gap. The governor went on to highlight two recent accomplishments. The two Education reform bills currently moving through the Legislature will provide students an exit from low-performing schools; provide parents tools to improve schools, and link teachers' performance to students' performance. The governor also highlighted the water bill, calling it the most comprehensive water package in nearly half a century. Legislators will be campaigning throughout the state asking voters to pass the $11 billion bond measure in November. Our economy cannot grow without water, says the governor. The focus for the coming year is priorities getting them straight and keeping them straight. Priority #1: Jobs, jobs, jobs by doing the following: a. $500 million jobs package to train 140,000 workers and create 100,000 jobs. b. Streamlining the permitting of construction jobs. c. Allowing home buyer tax credits of $10,000 to stimulate construction. d. Exempting the purchase of green tech manufacturing equipment from sales taxes. Priority #2: Budget System & Tax System Reform. Government has a responsibility not to be an obstacle to success but to be a partner in prosperity. a. 144,000 people pay 50% of personal income taxes for 38 million Californians. b. The governor wants the Legislature to act on the recommendations of the Tax Reform Commission bringing our 20 th Century tax system into the next century. We cannot wait for the wealthy to bounce back. c. He also likes many features of the Best Practices Budget Accountability Act proposed by California Forward such as performance-based budgeting and applying one-time spikes in revenues to one-time uses -- debt reduction, infrastructure and creating a rainy day fund. d. The Legislature needs to act on reforms before they go to the voters. 2010/11 Budget Overview a. California faces a $19.9 billion deficit with $6.6 billion in 2009/10 and $13.3 billion in 2010/11. b. There will be additional cuts in the governor s budget proposal. c. But I am drawing this line. Because our future economic well-being is so dependent upon education, I will protect education funding in this budget. And we can no longer afford to cut higher education either, says Schwarzenegger. d. The governor will propose a constitutional amendment so that the percentage of the budget spent on prisons will never be greater than the percentage going to higher education. Thirty years ago, 10% of the General Fund went to Higher Education and 3% went to prisons. Today, 7.5% goes to Higher Education and 11% goes to prisons. e. He wants to see private prisons allowed to compete with public prisons thereby saving billions of dollars that could go to other programs. f. Federal funds need to be part of the budget solution. California receives 78 cents back from every dollar sent to the federal government. Other states receive more money Texas (94 cents), Pennsylvania ($1.07), Alaska ($1.84) and New Mexico ($2.03). The governor is looking for federal fairness rather than federal bail-out. g. The Federal government needs to pay 50% of the costs associated with undocumented immigrants. Priority #3: Pension Reform a. The cost of state pensions is up 2000% in the last ten years while revenue is only up 24%. b. He challenges the Legislature to find an equivalent of a water deal for state pensions.

4 Priority #4: Assistance to Veterans to help address post-traumatic stress syndrome and a high suicide rate. The governor was optimistic and positive in his opinions about California stating that, This is the greatest place in the world. California has the means and the mind power to solve all of its problems. His budget proposal for 2010/11 is expected to be released today, Jan 8 th. State Budget On Friday, January 8, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled an $82.9 billion state spending plan. The governor is proposing a three-part deficit-closing solution: $8.5 billion in spending cuts $4.5 billion in "revenue shifts," some of which were rejected by voters last year $6.9 billion in additional money from the federal government The governor also declared another fiscal emergency, and called for yet another special session of the Legislature, designed to keep a projected $19.9 billion budget deficit from growing by another $2.4 billion. If state leaders are unsuccessful in coaxing the additional money out of Washington, the gap would be closed with additional cuts that include eliminating some social service programs entirely, and imposing an additional pay cut on state employees. Under Schwarzenegger's proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1: Temporary increases of sales and income taxes approved last year by the governor and lawmakers would be allowed to expire on June 30 and December 31, respectively The state's current 6 percent sales tax on a gallon of gasoline would be dropped, and replaced by a 10.8-cent increase in per-gallon excise taxes. Administration officials estimate the overall impact would be a 6-cent-per-gallon reduction in gas prices. The seemingly arcane switch would allow the state to legally cut the money it must currently pay to local governments for transportation programs, and to schools. About 200,000 state employees who currently must take three unpaid days off each month - equivalent to a 14 percent pay cut - would go back to work full time. But the furloughs would be replaced by a 5 percent pay cut; a 5 percent increase in contributions to retirement plans and a directive to all state departments to cut overall payroll costs by 5 percent through layoffs, attrition or hiring people at lower salaries. In addition, another 5 percent pay cut could be triggered if the federal government fails to come across with additional funding. Spending on most elementary and high school programs would be kept at current levels. But a $1.2 billion cut would be sought in school administration. None of the cuts could be shifted to classroom reductions. General fund support of the University of California and the California State University systems would be increased by $225 million; enough, Schwarzenegger said, to fend off further student fee hikes next year. The fastest-growing segment of state spending over the past decade - prisons - would be cut by $1.2 billion, most of it through reducing medical costs to prisoners. Funding for Medi-Cal and services to Californians whose ability to care for themselves is limited would be reduced. State parks, which Schwarzenegger proposed closing last year, would be financed through additional state revenues from increased oil drilling off the California coast, an idea that was rejected last year by legislators. Nearly $7 billion in federal funds are counted on to help balance the budget, including increases in money for health care and paying for undocumented immigrants in state prisons. If the feds don't come through with the extra money - and indications are that they won't - social service and health programs from CalWORKS (the state's welfare-to-work program) to Healthy Families (which provides medical insurance to children of low-income families) would be eliminated or severely slashed.

5 Overall, state spending on day-to-day operations would drop from $86.1 billion in the current fiscal year to $82.9 billion, a 3.7 percent drop, and well below growth in the state's population. The proposed budget also reflects a 19 percent drop from three years ago. (Excerpted from the Sac Bee article by Steve Wiegand Jan 8, 2010) FEDERAL Jobs for Main Street Act: The House recently passed a new bill that would allocate $75 billion in TARP funds to a job stimulus package bill that would benefit education and other public service jobs. The education portion of the bill is $23 billion, with an additional $3.7 billion for law enforcement, firefighter, AmeriCorps, and college work study jobs. The infrastructure portion of the bill provides $48.3 billion, about half of which is devoted to highway infrastructure. Under the House bill, the education funding would be administered as an additional round of funding under the ARRA State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. The Senate is expected to consider the bill in January. If the bill passes, California is expected to receive about $2.8 billion. For more information, see the House summary of the bill at FEDERAL BUDGET: The final 2010 federal appropriations bill was approved in December. Funding for Title I and IDEA is flat compared to the prior year, meaning that there were no increases to Title I or IDEA funds. This funding is for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, The White House indicated in its original budget proposal that funding was flat because ARRA funds are still available this year. ARRA: Several important deadlines are coming up for ARRA funding applications. Race to the Top Phase I applications are due January 19, and Phase II SFSF applications are due on January 11.