Tehachapi News

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The Tehachapi Unified School District (TUSD) continues to face difficult decisions over how to deal with the $4.3 billion in education budget cuts proposed by the Governor of California.

With the passing of the March 15 notification deadline imposed by school employee unions, a collective sigh of relief can be released by all but eight retiring, or temporary contract certificated employees, and three certificated administrators.
Superintendent Dr. Richard Swanson confirmed the elimination/reduction of classified (degreed) positions includes two Jacobsen Middle School administrators, as well as the non-renewal of current Tehachapi High School Vice-Principal Ed Cheek. Swanson explained that a non-renewal does not necessarily eliminate that position and hence, does not qualify as a budgetary reduction.

“We will be notifying one teacher and  two counselors,” said Swanson on March 13, adding that one position will not be vacated, as it can potentially filled by counselor who will be returning from a sabatical. “It’s a senior bump basically. Not really a demotion, but a replacement,” he said.

The March 11 TUSD board of directors meeting resulted in a dying motion to seek certificated cuts at the district office.

“We reviewed the budget relative to similar districts and we’re spending about half a million less for the administrative office than the typical district,” said Swanson adding that the board has, “put any consideration of that on hold for at least another nine months.”

Swanson likened potential cuts within the district office to a “slow strangulation” of the entire district, and Trustee Judy Walsh agreed, noting that two such cuts were made during the previous year’s budget, stripping the TUSD administration to a “bare bones operation.”

According to Swanson, non-certificated positions will be looked at by the board next, as part of a plan to eliminate an estimated one half - to three quarters of a million dollars in additional expenditures, over the next four to six weeks.

Non-certificated positions require 45 days notice, and for those who have lost count, there are less than 80 school days remaining on this year’s academic calendar.

Additionally, collective bargaining negotiations for future contracts have been stalled due the state’s budget proposal, but remain cooperative, according to Swanson.

“We’ve been working to negotiate as quickly as possible. We have a very good relationship with the bargaining units. They’ve been more than willing to wait until we’ve got budget numbers,” said Swanson adding, “Things are very close to the bone right now.”

According to TUSD’s Chief Administrator of Business Services, Julie Auvil, the second interim budget summary report puts the district at a 7.35 percent reserve for the 2007/2008 school year. However, a projected $1.1 million deficit is projected for the 2008/2009 school year, with a 6.02 percent reserve — if no additional cuts are identified. These figures do not allow for annual contract negotiations with the district’s three individual bargaining units.

Swanson said over the past 30 years, he’s been through three very similar budget crises, both as an administrator and a teacher. He predicted that the district will likely be “hugely in flux, and it’s going to continue that way.”

“Basically I’ll say ‘I told you so’ when it [state education cuts] hits $20 billion. That will not surprise me at all. We can anticipate a first year of chaos and then we can anticipate two more at least. Maybe even four to five. Even if it gets better there will be reverberations,” Swanson said.

Swanson voices concerns at state capitol

Will legislators listen?

Superintendent Dr. Richard Swanson was not all doom and gloom as he reported to the TUSD board on outcome of his participation in the annual meeting of the legislative action committee on education. On March 7, Swanson joined a group of administrators from 11 different regions across the state, who brought their concerns to the offices of the state’s policy makers and budgetary shakers at the state capitol.

“The one issue hammered home is the the fact that basically this budget crisis is being balanced on the backs of education right now,” said Swanson.

Swanson explained that while state revenues are up 80 percent, education spending over the past 10 years is only up 69 percent, a cap set by Prop 98. Meanwhile, non-educational spending is up 109 percent, yet Swanson estimates that nearly 50 percent of the state’s proposed budget reductions are targeted at “our kids.”

“They can’t balance their budget on the backs or our students,” he said.
Swanson said citizens can get involved by contacting their local representatives and asking them to lift the budgetary caps imposed by Prop 98.

“The strengths of [Prop] 98 has also been our limit. There are no constraints in all other state expenditures. It’s not education spending that’s bankrupting our budget,” Swanson said.

During a March 14 visit to a Los Angeles area school, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said it is necessary to make balancing the budget a priority above education spending.

"We would not have to put the schools or the teachers or the entire education system through this agony, through the uncertainties, on this roller- coaster ride where everyone has to hold on for dear life, if we reformed the state budget system once and for all," said the Governor.

His comment comes on the heels of a report issued earlier that same day, by a panel of advisors, calling for universal reform of the state’s “flawed” educational system. The report was initially comissioned as part of Schwarzenegger’s year-long campaign to reform California's K-12 system.

The report calls for better education for teachers as well as accountability linked to student performance; a state-wide data tracking system; universal preschool and full-day kindergarten classes, and more funding for ESL and the majority of California’s low-income students.