Sacramento Republicrat

As Laurel Rosenhall writes in the Sacramento Bee, “Schools still come up short in Schwarzenegger’s latest budget”.

Elk Grove teachers won’t have the guidance of experienced teaching coaches next fall. A gleaming new school in Natomas will sit empty. And in Sacramento, middle schools will have fewer music classes and high school teachers will have less time to run special programs like athletics and honors academics.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May budget proposal gives more money to schools than he suggested in January, and meets the minimum guarantee schools are owed under state law. And his latest proposal increases school spending next year by $200 million over this year – but it’s an amount education advocates say is paltry compared with their needs.

The governor’s latest budget proposal doesn’t cover the higher costs schools will face next year for things such as gasoline, health care and raises for teachers as they advance in experience, said David Gordon, superintendent of Sacramento County schools. So districts are trimming other parts of their budgets to keep up.

“That is a big cut when you’re not kept even with the inflationary factors,” Gordon said. “You have to cut other things to keep marching in place.”

…Natomas Unified has managed to trim its budget without laying off any teachers. Instead, the district is putting off opening the new H. Allen Hight Middle School that has already been built, for a savings of $1.2 million.

Natomas is also trying to save money on school lunches by improving the food it offers at its high schools. The hope is that with tastier choices, more kids will buy lunch and offset the money the district now spends to keep cafeterias afloat. The district is looking at opening Mexican or Italian food stations at Natomas High.

“More students will simply buy lunch,” said Superintendent Steve Farrar. “We’re hoping (they) will not bring lunch from home.”

California spends only $7,127 a year per student (according to 2006 data from the National Center for Education Statistics). Where does the rest of the money go? ADMINISTRATION!

We need to start from the top and work our way down. Eliminate all of the dead weight in the administration and start holding non-performing teachers accountable. My daughter is in grade school, one teacher. The teacher does a great job. My son is in middle school with 6 teachers. One or two of which actually seem to care about the students. the others seem to be treading water. These teachers need to be held accountable.

Accountability is the key. If these teachers are simply not performing, then place them under review and deal with the situation. This should go for the school Principals as well. My daughters Principal does a great job and is very involved. My sons Principal is just the opposite! I have spoken to him (my sons Principal) on numerous occasions and each time I find it amazing that he is charged with running a school.

Bottom line, throwing more money at education, is not the answer. Refine the system, eliminate the dead weight, hold the teachers accountable and then fund it.