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Sac City has celebrated many accomplishments and has
made excellent progress increasing student achievement. Our schools
have met the escalating performance targets of the No Child Left
Behind legislation and I am confident that our progress will continue.
However, California’s economic downturn is again threatening the
forward momentum of the past few years. The instability of the State’s
education funding and the shortsightedness of political leaders are
creating serious concerns in the education community. One measure of
this concern is the annual Education Code requirement that obligates
districts to inform teachers they may not be employed in the
subsequent year by March 15. Statewide more than 18,000 such notices
were issued to teachers and other certificated staff such as
counselors, administrators and psychologists. In Sac City, we gave
notices to more than 300 certificated staff. Next month, we must
undertake the same painful process with our classified employees such
as bus drivers, clerical support, classified management and operations
personnel.
Sac City has cut more than $70 million over the past
seven years. In 2008-09, we must again reduce expenditures or find new
revenue to meet the $24 million shortfall created by the Governor’s
proposed cuts. Such deep reductions cannot continue if we are to
sustain our students’ achievement progress. California is 46th
among the 50 states in per pupil funding, spending close to $2,000
less per student each year. We have done more with less, but we cannot
afford to slide any further. In fact, we should be increasing per
pupil funding to assist in closing the achievement gap among students,
fully funding class size reduction and increasing student supports
such as counselors, nurses and after school programs. Student supports
such as those I have listed have helped us increase our Academic
Performance Index by 46 points over four years. This sustained level
of progress has been realized because of excellent teachers in every
classroom, excellent staff, excellent administrators and excellent
centralized services. Our students and community cannot afford to lose
our dedicated and skilled employees.
One of the teachers who received a March 15 notice
was Jessica James, a 6th grade teacher in one our South
Area schools. I asked if I could share her story, and she kindly gave
her permission. As a result of previous budget cuts, our District has
eliminated funding for field trips. When Jessica learned that many of
her students had never seen the redwoods or a forest, she took the
initiative of seeking out donors on Craigslist to raise $9,000 so her
students could take a five-day camping trip this summer. She wanted
her students to have an experience that she remembers fondly. With the
help of many community partners, she has achieved her goal. Jessica is
only one example of the caring, compassionate, and competent teachers
we will lose from the profession if the governor’s proposal is
implemented. These cuts are a loss to our District, but more
importantly, the cuts mean a very real loss to Jessica’s students.
Two decades ago, California voters approved Proposition 98 which
guaranteed a minimum funding level for schools. This was a welcome
step because approximately 80 percent of school budgets are
state-funded. Unfortunately, the voters’ wishes have not always been
honored at the Capitol, and this year, the Governor is proposing a
suspension of that promise to our students. In May, he will submit a
revised budget for Legislative review based upon more current
information. Yet, Sac City and other school systems must act now
because of the March and April legal noticing requirements. We
sincerely hope that when the Governor revises his budget in May, we
will be able to rescind these notices. We urge the Governor and
Legislature to act wisely and honor the funding obligations to our
students.
Click here to email Superintendent M. Magdalena
Carrillo Mejia, Ph.D.
Superintendent's Prior Messages
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