Adequate Funding for our schools, and a responsible, balanced budget

By Gary D. Yee

Studies have shown two findings: that public schools are inadequately funded, and that money by itself doesn't ensure high quality schools

At the local level, because most local school funding comes from the state general fund, it's subject to the annual struggle to pass a state budget. The lack of a state budget means that schools cannot really predict how much money the state will allocate, and how it must be spent. The only guardian of that formula is Proposition 98, which requires 40% of the state money to be spent on education, but even that has been adapted and circumvented in a variety of ways over the last four years.

School districts need a reliable source of income, and for most of us, that means local parcel taxes. Oakland residents have been very generous to fund our parcel taxes, and we have one of the lowest rates per household of school parcel taxes in the County. A $200 parcel tax can generate about $20million per year for the district to spend on specific areas.

This year, to balance the budget, we had to cut @122milion from our budget, which translates to 650 layoffs, and severe reduction in central services, and many fewer dollars to our schools. Still, with the parcel tax, and one time federal stimulus funds, we were able to avoid even more drastic cuts for one more year.

We still have a very significant structural deficit, around $13million; a structural deficit is the difference between our revenues and our expenditures, minus one time or restricted funds. My goal is to reduce that deficit to zero, but increasing revenues (better attendance at our schools, more students, and local parcel taxes), and reducing our expenditures (school consolidations, centralized leveraging, and better use of technology and facilities). This balancing act is not simple; it requires careful analytic capacity, high quality fiscal analysts, strong auditing oversight, and cooperation by everyone, including site adminstrators.

Not listening to all stakeholders, including all employee groups, community representatives, and fiscal watchdogs, can lead us back into a fiscal hole, similar to the one I encountered when I first joined the board eight years ago. While I ran as an educator and an instructional leader, I had to learn and exercise fiscal responsibility to help lead us out of state adminstration back to local control That fiscal diligence and disciipline is something each board member must embrace.