Laguna takes message upstate

Kathy Selevan

Laguna Beach PTA council sent two of its PTA presidents, Thasa Zuziak

and Ketta Brown, to Sacramento in April to join a coalition of 80 PTA

parents from Orange County voicing their educational concerns to

state officials.

This is an annual trip for the 4th District PTA and the first for

Laguna Beach. We felt it was important because of the growing

concerns over the proposed 2005-06 state budget and the protection of

Proposition 98, and other current legislative initiatives that are

important for children, youth and the future of public education.

California State PTA, a nonpartisan organization, has been waging a

comprehensive statewide grassroots campaign to send a strong message

that the education of over six million children remains a high

priority to parents and the voting public.

The governor is proposing not to fund schools as required by Prop.

98, a constitutional funding guarantee approved by the California

voters in 1988. He refuses to honor his $2 billion debt owed to the

school districts from 2004-05 and wants to suspend an additional $2

billion for the 2005-06 budget.

This reduces the “maintenance factor” -- or base on which all

revenue limit districts are funded -- by $4 billion. This money would

never be recovered by the schools. In addition, he is exploring

transferring the state’s portion of the State Teacher’s Retirement

System and mental health costs to the individual school districts.

Although LBUSD is somewhat buffered from the Prop. 98 cuts due to

the fact we are a “Basic Aid District,” transferring STRS

contributions and mental health costs would negatively affect us and

probably take more half a million dollars from our operating budget.

Aside from the negative fiscal impact to all schools in California,

the transfer of mental health-mandated care costs to the districts

will disrupt current care of these students, which helps no one.

Thirty years ago, California public education was the best in the

country. It is now ranked near the bottom and is 49th in

teacher/pupil ratio and 43rd in per-pupil spending. The PTA feels it

must advocate for a balanced approach to solving the ongoing

structural issues in the state budget that looks at both revenue and

expenditures. Wildly unpredictable budgets lead to unpredictable

programs and unpredictable progress. As one PTA parent said: “No

other agency in the government has to depend on bake sales for its

budget.”