Superintendent Kristen Vital's Comments about CUSD's Budget

Dawn Urbanek | urbanek@cox.net | If you find this research valuable, please consider a donation to The Equity Project

Superintendent Vital Speaks Out...
"CUSD IS BROKE"

The State's Education Funding Law is NOT FAIR!

Understanding California's Local Control Funding Formula
California's new education funding law: AB- 97 School Finance - Local Control Funding Formula aka "LCFF" was enacted in 2013-14 and distributes K- 12 per pupil funding using the following formula:

The "Base Grant" is universal for all students.
The "Supplemental Grant" provides additional funding to districts based on the percentage of students in the district that are English Language Learners, Receiving Free and Reduced Lunch, and/or are in Foster Care.
The "Concentration Grant" provides even more funding for districts that have large concentrations of students that are English Language Learners, Receiving Free and Reduced Lunch, and/or are in Foster Care.

Districts with a low percentage of students who are English Language Learners, Receiving Free and Reduced Lunch, and/or are in Foster Care, are funded primarily by the Base Grant.

When the State of California enacted the LCFF law it set the Base Grant at $6,500 per pupil, and limited K-12 per pupil funding to 2007-08 levels + inflation; not to be reach until 2021.

The LCFF was intentionally designed to underfund wealthy suburban school districts.

Superintendent Kristen Vital's Comments on The Local Control Funding Formula and CUSD's financial problems.

CUSD Board Meeting Audio at 16:44 .

Because CUSD is a "Low Poverty District" CUSD is primarily funded by the Base Funding Grant. CUSD is not a Basic Aid District and CUSD does not receive any Concentration Grant Funds.

Enrollment is declining which means funding is declining.

CUSD saw a 1% increase in revenue for this year.

Under Governor Newsom, funding challenges will continue until the State of California increases the base funding grant for all students in California.

As of right now CUSD continues to pay for text books and chrome books out of one time money.

Because of these financial challenges, CUSD cut $2 million dollars last year and $2.5 million this year in a strategy to focus every dollar on students and the classrooms.

While CUSD values Athletics and the Arts CUSD must make decisions about terrible cuts.

This year we cut Administrators and District Office Functions as opposed to cutting teachers and counselors or other site supports.

Visit CUSD's Financial Transparency Portal where you can see how every dollar is spent.

CUSD Per Pupil Funding Since LCFF was Enacted
Source: http://ias.cde.ca.gov/lcffsnapshot/lcff.aspx

Governor Jerry Brown; by design, set the Base Funding Grant intentionally low - $6,500. The purpose was to be able to withhold education dollars from "Wealthy Suburban School Districts" aka "Low Poverty" school districts, in order to increase state dollars that would be available to backfill public employee pension costs and to fund the Governors pet project, High Speed Rail.

How California Taxpayers know the Base Funding Grant was set to low

In December 2006, the State of California Commissioned a study to determine the cost to "adequately" educate a student in California with special needs weightings. The 2007-08 Calculated per pupil costs with special needs weightings determined that no child in the state of California could be educated for less than $8,932 per pupil. CUSD, a suburban school district should receive $10,726 - $12,077 per pupil to be adequately funded.

The Local Control Funding Formula set K-12 funding at 2007-08 levels + inflation (not to be reached until 2021).

From this study, Governor Brown knew that no child in the State of California could be educated for less than $8,932 in 2007-08. The Base Grant should have been set at no less than $8,932.

The study also showed that suburban school districts (CUSD) should have been funded at levels between $10,726 and $12,077.

Source: Efficiency and Adequacy in California School Finance: A Professional Judgment Approach
https://cepa.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/19-AIR-PJP-Report(3-07).pdf at page Xiii

How Much Money Has Been Withheld from CUSD since 2013-14?
$790 Million to $1.18 Billion Dollars

One could easily make the argument that we are being taxed twice by having to subsidize our public schools with additional local revenue.

By setting the base grant so low; the State is by design, intentionally underfunding ONLY those Districts that have a low percentage of students who are English Language Learners, receiving Free and Reduced Lunch, and/or are in Foster Care. The State is denying all students that live in low poverty Districts their fundamental right to achieve equality of educational opportunity. Basing per pupil funding on the wealth, race, and ethnicity of a district is a violation of the equal protection laws of the State of California and the California and US Constitutions. Denying a student sufficient funding to achieve a equality of educational opportunity simply because of where they happen to live, and irrespective of their individual wealth, race or ethnicity constitutes invidious discrimination.

The State is using California's public education system to continually raise new revenues. Rather than use those new revenues to fund a basic education for every student, the State chooses instead, to spend education dollars to create new programs and entitlements that are not constitutionally mandated. The State is using the California public education system to promote political agendas such as the redistribution of wealth rather than guarantee a basic education to all California students.

California's classrooms remain on life support with no forceable change for students going forward under LCFF.

It is not possible for CUSD to continue to find new "local revenues" to make up for taxpayer dollars that are being withheld by the State of California. Especially when CUSD continues to give all employees across the board compensation increases as it has done for the past six years totaling almost $200 million dollars.

Advocating for the funding that CUSD students are constitutionally entitled to is the only solution.

A poorly planned school facilities bond; and increased fundraising and donations, will not begin to address the needs of CUSD students, who have been denied adequate funding since 2007-08.

CUSD must demand adequate funding from the State of California.

CUSD has run out of "other peoples money".

The State Has A Constitutional Obligation To Fund K-12 School Facilities.
The State is "CHOOSING" Not To- passing that burden on to local governments.

California's $61 billion dollar 5-year Infrastructure Plan does not allocate a single penny to K-12 Facilities. It does allocate $55 of the $61 billion to Transportation aka "High Speed Rail".

Source: http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2016-Infrastructure-Plan.pdf at page 130

The State has always helped fund school facilities, until recently. As a result of wanting to use infrastructure dollars on his High Speed Rail project, rather than fund facilities for K-12, school districts across the state have been forced to pass local school facility bonds.

Local School Facility Bond Measures

In a Nut Shell

The 2018-19 California State Budget is a record high $201 billion dollars.

Newly Elected Governor Newsom is proposing a 2019-20 budget of $209 billion.

At the same time, the legislature is looking for new ways to spend a $16 billion dollar surplus.

There is no surplus. California's State and Local debt totals an estimated $1.3 trillion dollars. Local school facility bond debt repayment is almost $337 billion alone. That does not include other property based taxes, fees and special assessments such as Parcel Taxes, State School Facility Bonds, Developer Fees or Mello Roos. It is estimated that the State has over $1.3 Trillion dollars of debt, and most of it was forced onto local governments from the State's abuse of our Public Education system.

Links are live at CUSDWatch

Since Prop 13 passed in 1978, which reduced property tax rates on homes, businesses and farms by about 57%, the Legislature has looked for new ways to increase revenues to pay for school facilities.

In 2000 voters approved Prop 39 The School Facilities Local Vote Act, which reduced the threshold required to pass school district bond issues from a two-thirds (66.67%) supermajority vote, to a 55% simple majority vote. Since the passage of Prop 39, local school facility bond debt has skyrocketed.

The lower threshold of 55% is an option. Local school boards representing communities that rejected Proposition 39 are allowed by state law to honor the two-thirds vote threshold for tax measures.

Education Lobbyists are now trying to lower the threshold to pass Parcel Taxes from two-thirds (66.67%) supermajority, to a (55%) simple majority.

Why is this important?

Debt incurred by local school districts will effect the ability of Cities and Counties to raise revenue. As such, Cities and counties cannot afford to ignore the actions of local school boards. To protect taxpayers, and preserve the financial stability of the local government they represent, City and County elected leaders have a fiscal obligation to be engaged in local school board actions.

California's Public Education System cannot be allowed to bankrupt the State. It is the public employee unions that want new revenue no matter the cost to taxpayers and the quality of life of every Californian.

The State of California has Record High Revenues... Let the State Keep its Promise to ALL students.

In 2019, the State of California is enjoying record high revenues of $209 billion. That is up from $143 billion in 2007-08. The State of California has sufficient revenue to provide equality of educational opportunity for all students, but is "choosing" not to adequately fund wealthy suburban school districts.

Where does that leave the 25.91% of CUSD students who are English Language Learners, receiving Free and Reduced Lunch and/or are in Foster Care?

California Budget: 2007-08 and 2019-20

Links are live at CUSDWatch