RCSD Budget Crisis
Speaking of education...

I'm writing to my governor and state representatives about school funding. Below is an overview my local the Redwood City School District's page on their Budget Crisis Information 2008-09.

On January 10, Governor Schwarzenegger released a proposed State Budget for 2008-09 that cuts public school funding by $4+ billion in order to make up for a projected $14 billion deficit. If this budget goes through, the Redwood City School District Board of Education will need to find ways to cut programs and services, or find another source of revenue to offset this severe loss of funding to our schools, programs, and staff.

The Governor’s proposed budget cuts targets basic per student funding guaranteed by the State Constitution (Prop. 98 passed in 1988), as well as class size reduction subsidies, special education programs required under federal law, child development programs, child nutrition programs, before and after school grant programs, adult education, and facilities maintenance. In addition, the Governor’s Budget does not provide ‘equalization aid,’ the budget allocation that addresses inequities in school funding and attempts to bring ‘low-wealth’ school districts, such as Redwood City, closer to the state average in per student funding. Finally, the Governor’s Budget proposes to delay funding apportionments (the actual cash we receive to pay our bills) from July to September, and all but eliminates reimbursements the State gives school districts for providing specific required services (referred to as ‘Mandated Cost Reimbursements’).

California is in the lower half of states in per-pupil spending (cf. the Census Report for details). From the 2005 Census report, we seem to be #30 among the states in absolute per-pupil spending -- but that's not figuring in cost of living.

I think it is ridiculous, and about time to start some letter writing.