Dear Colleague,
It has now been six years since California lawmakers revamped the state
funding formula for local schools, but there are allocation issues. As
the Mercury News informs us, it was touted by then-Gov. Jerry
Brown as a way to simplify k-12 education spending and “close the
state’s achievement gap by giving more money to districts that
disproportionately serve needy kids.”
Since then, state spending on schools has increased about 50%. But,
as state Auditor Elaine Howle explained in a troubling report last
month, there is no way to track whether money is being spent as it
should.
School officials across California have co-mingled billions of
dollars of state money that was supposed to be used for children who
fall into one of three categories: English learners, low-income or in
foster care.
Howle’s findings confirm what critics have been saying for years:
Rather than specifically helping needy kids, the money has simply been
used to boost general spending.
That partially explains why California students’ test scores
continue lagging the national average and the state has failed to close
the achievement gap that divides along racial and economic lines.
To learn more, go here.
In the same vein, The Los Angeles Times ponders, “California’s education funding is at a record high. So why are schools short on cash?”
California’s economy has steadily grown since 2010, and voters
approved tax increases on the wealthy in 2012 and 2016 to help fund
education.
But at the same time, a few important things have complicated the
flow of dollars to the classroom. One is the rapid growth in expenses
for special education. More children are qualifying for additional
services, particularly those diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
Even preschool-age kids are entitled to services funded by existing
school budgets.
The state government’s special education expenses are projected to
rise 21% next year, according to the governor’s new budget. The impact
on local dollars is even bigger — those funds pay for 61% of special
education expenses, according to a legislative analysis.
School districts are being squeezed, too, by the rising costs of employee healthcare and pensions.
To continue reading, go here.
In fact, a large chunk of education dollars go for public employee
pension and healthcare perks. In a paper published by the Brookings
Institution in May, University of Missouri economics professor Cory
Koedel writes, “California’s pension debt is harming teachers and
students now—and it’s going to get worse.” He explains that the
California State Teachers Retirement System’s total unfunded liability
is over $100 billion, “which is greater than the total amount of money
spent to educate all of California’s public K-12 students for a year ($97.2 billion).”
To learn more, go here.
But whatever the reason, the state wants more. As such, there will be a school bond on the March 3rd
ballot. The ironically named Prop. 13, a “School and College Facilities
Bond,” would authorize $15 billion in general obligation bonds for
school and college facilities. However, the prop is no friend to
taxpayers. As Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association president Jon Coupal
notes, the $15 billion figure “reflects typical credit card math”
because the money would be borrowed from Wall Street, and taxpayers
would pay it back plus 80 percent in total interest costs. So the stated
$15 billion is actually $27 billion.
To learn more, go here.
An interesting piece in the Los Angeles Times asks the question, “Grades vs. SAT scores: Which is a better predictor of college success?”
Pressure is growing on the University of California and California
State University to drop the SAT and ACT exams as admission requirements
because of their perceived bias against disadvantaged students and
underrepresented minorities. As part of the debate, policymakers are
considering increasing the weight of high school grades in the
admissions process.
Research has shown that grades are the best single predictor of
college performance and aren’t as heavily influenced as the standardized
exams by income, parent education levels and race.
But the ACT and College Board, which owns the SAT, argue that a
combination of grades and test scores is the best overall guide to
selecting students who are likely to succeed in college. Using grades
without test scores could exacerbate inequities, test officials say,
because grade inflation is worse in affluent schools, according to
research they have reviewed.
To read on, go here.
On January 22nd, just three days before the start of National School Choice Week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. In
December 2018, the Montana Supreme Court struck down the state’s tax
credit program that allowed poor kids to use donated pre-tax money to
attend private schools, including religious ones. (Very simply,
tax-credit scholarships allow taxpayers to receive full or partial tax
credits when they donate to nonprofits that provide private school
scholarships for kids. Currently 250,000 students benefit from
private-school choice through education tax credits nationwide.)
As Matthew Vadum explains, the Montana program “provided a
dollar-for-dollar tax credit up to $150 matching an individual’s or a
corporation’s donations to nonprofit student scholarship organizations.”
But according to the state court, it allowed the legislature to
“indirectly pay tuition at private, religiously-affiliated schools,”
which is contrary to Montana law. The ruling comes to us courtesy of
Montana’s anti-Catholic Blaine Amendment, a variety of which exists in
36 other states, and is supported by the education establishment,
notably the teachers unions.
To read more, go here.
On the union front, one of the big stories of 2019 was the growth of
#RedForEd. It began as a grassroots teachers’ movement that was
organized on Facebook in early 2018 by Noah Karvelis, a 24-year-old
music teacher and socialist from Arizona, but was promptly co-opted by
the teachers unions. Over at Breitbart, Michael Patrick Leahy outlines the top 10 #RedforEd political power plays in 2019. For example,
The #RedforEd teachers movement flexed its political muscle in the
Kentucky gubernatorial race on Tuesday, powering the campaign of
Democrat Attorney General Andy Beshear against incumbent Republican Gov.
Matt Bevin.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting as of 9:55 p.m. EST, Beshear
had a narrow 0.3 point lead, with 49.2 percent of the vote to Bevin’s
48.9 percent. Libertarian candidate John Hicks had two percent of the
vote. . .
Bevin’s handling of a series of unauthorized teachers strikes
organized by the local Kentucky #RedforEd teachers group this past
spring created great anger among many of the state’s teachers, and they
vowed to defeat him in November.
To learn more, go here.
Going forward, the next event for #RedforED – and all teacher union
activists – is flipping purple states in 2020, and ousting Donald Trump
from office. In 2016, Trump eked out victories in Michigan, Wisconsin
and Pennsylvania, and the union activists plan to concentrate their
efforts in those and other battleground states to make sure that Trump
is just a one-term president. It is worth noting that “teacher” was the
most common occupation listed for donors to socialist presidential
candidate Bernie Sanders in the fourth-quarter of 2019.
To read more, go here and here.
Speaking of Trump, the teachers unions are already doing what they can
to kill his presidency. American Federation of Teachers president Randi
Weingarten weighed in on the impeachment imbroglio, accusing the
president of “betraying American democracy.”
To read more, go here.
Due to union “opt-out windows,” which are very possibly illegal, this
may be the time to quit if you are planning to do so. If you have any
questions about the process, or have experienced any problems because of
your decision to leave your union, please let us know and we will do
our best to help you – possibly getting you legal assistance, if
necessary. We will also be able to share your concerns with other
teachers across the state. And talking about sharing, please pass this
email along to your colleagues and encourage them to join us.
Also, anyone wishing to donate to CTEN can do so very simply through check, money order or PayPal - http://www.ctenhome.org/donate.html As a non-profit, we exist only through the generosity of others. Thanks, as always.
Sincerely,
Larry Sand
CTEN President
