State Officials

Let’s Not Neglect State Officials

As CVUSD has made plans to close two elementary schools in 2009, hundreds of parents have come forward in protest of the decision and asking officials to reconsider budget and spending priorities so that such a step won’t be necessary. Such active involvement is to be commended, but if we as parents truly want to make a difference in our public schools, we must also make our concerns known to our state officials.

Currently, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has suggested 10% across-the-board cuts in education. That works out to a $4.8 billion cut for K-14 education, on top of a $400 million reduction for education in the current year. The net effect is about $750 less per student than K-12 education would normally receive or about $18,750 per classroom. His proposal calls for the suspension of Proposition 98—the state’s minimum funding guarantee for public schools and community colleges—in order to help address a $14.5 billion state budget shortfall. The proposed cuts are the largest ever contemplated for public schools in California and come in a state that already spends well under the national average per pupil. CVUSD estimates it could lose $5 million from it's $170-million budget, and has already notified as many as 90 teachers that they may not have a job next year.

We need to make some of the same demands of our elected state officials that we have made of our CVUSD officials. Are they truly looking at the impact these kinds of budget cuts will have on our children? Should they be looking elsewhere to make cuts or increase revenues? Could they be looking to overhaul state educational spending in ways that provide more direct benefits to our kids? A great source of information about the California education system, particularly as it relates to financing education is at www.edsource/org – there are many facts and figures presented in a straightforward, non-partisan manner that can be used to get a better understanding of how the state funds our schools. It’s not just the amount of money the state provides to public schools that causes severe problems on local levels; many of those problems are caused by the way the state allocates the money and by the way it determines how much each school district should receive.

Included here is contact information for the governor, our local state representatives, and the members of the education committees in the Senate and Assembly. Let’s tell them that we care passionately about our children’s schools and let them know what type of impact their decisions are having in our community. We believe that California can do better, and we need to make sure our voices are heard in Sacramento.

Tammy Ditmore
Newbury Park
fourditmores@verizon.net


Contact Information for California state representatives from our district

State Senator: Tom McClintock
Although McClintock is our state senator for the remainder of this year and should be voting on this year’s budget, he is now running for U.S. Congress in the Sacramento-area district where he has actually lived with his family for more than 10 years – his kids do not attend school in Ventura County. None of the links posted on the California Legislature pages lead to a State Senate home page for McClintock; I tried several different ways, but all I found is this website, http://www.tommcclintock.com/, which is a campaign website for his congressional campaign. There are places on that website to leave emails and campaign contributions.

Here are mailing addresses for him:
Capitol Address
State Capitol
Room 3070
Sacramento, CA 94248-0001
(916) 651-4019

District Address
223 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.
Suite 400
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
(805) 494-8808

Assembly Member: Audra Strickland
Home page: http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/members/a37/index.aspx?page=home
Email: Assemblymember.strickland@assembly.ca.gov,
or through contact page at: http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/members/a37/index.aspx?page=Concern

Capitol Address:
State Capitol
Room 4208
Sacramento, CA 94249-0037
Phone: (916) 319-2037
Fax: (916) 319-2137

Westlake Village District Office
2659 Townsgate Road, Suite 236
Westlake Village, CA 91361
Phone: 805-230-9167
Fax: 805-230-9183

The Assembly Education Committee includes Gene Mullin (Chair), Martin Garrick (Vice Chair), Julia Brownley, Joe Coto, Mike Eng, Lori Hancock, Bob Huff,
Betty Karnette, Alan Nakanishi, and Jose Solorio

You can find links to contact information for each of the members and more about the committee’s schedules, publications, etc. at http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/newcomframeset.asp?committee=6

The Senate Education Committee includes Jack Scott (Chair), Mark Wyland (Vice Chair), Elaine Alquist, Jeff Denham, Abel Maldonado, Alex Padilla, Gloria Romero, Joe Simitian and Tom Torlakson.

Some contact information and other information about the committee can be found at http://www.sen.ca.gov/ftp/sen/committee/STANDING/EDUCATION/_home1/PROFILE.HTM

However, links to the Senators home pages do not appear functional. In theory, most senators (not all accept email) can be reached by email at Senator.LastName@senate.ca.gov. Example: Senator.Scott@senate.ca.gov

Governor:
Website: http://gov.ca.gov/
For email, use form at: http://gov.ca.gov/interact

Address:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841

Fax: 916-558-3160 ( new number )

How do we find a real solution?

It is my opinion that our district is trying to take the "easy" way out of the budget shortfall that they are facing. They figure that by closing schools they can quickly slash $1.3 million a year from the budget. In reality, closing two schools is not going to solve the deeper problems that I see:

1. Lack of due diligence in all areas of the budget
   • The district spends excessively in some areas while underfunding others. There is little to no oversight to do a sanity check on what we pay for the services provided to us. While it is true that the lions share of the district budget goes to our teachers, this is not the place to cut. There are tens of millions of dollars spent every year to administer and operate this district. Every parent should be scouring the budget line items to hold the School Board accountable.
     
   • If we as parents independently audit where our tax dollars are going and find that the district is efficiently managing the resources that have been entrusted to them, then I fully support a local tax initiative to go on the ballot in November keep all of our schools open. I suspect, however, that we may find that there were many stones left "unturned" and additional taxes may not be necessary.
2. Reduction of Funding from the State Level
• This is out of our control at the local level. We should cross this bridge when we get to it. Every district will have to deal with this.
• Once we fully understand the impact in terms of a monetary amount of the reduction for our district, then we can discuss what to do about it. Right now it is all just guessing based upon the Governor's proposed budget.

The only real solutions to our district's budget issues will involve spending less, bringing in more, or a combination of both.  Let's work together to find a better alternative to school closure.

Districtwide Parents Meeting Tonight!

The Parents of Conejo Valley Schools clearly need to get on the same page!  :)

I just found out about a large group of us meeting at University School tonight, Monday March 10th at 6:00 PM.  We have fought the stats and have succeeded in making the analysis more fair and honest.  At the same time, this is no consolation to parents of students at University or Meadow's schools.  As long as the current evaluation process continues, two schools will still be identified for closure.  This is unacceptable.

It is time for us to all work together towards a common solution.

Below is the original text of the meeting invitation for tonight. Hope to see you there!

Meeting MONDAY 6:00 PM at University Elementary MPR

 

This meeting is for ALL SCHOOLS still wanting to speak at the March 18th school board meeting.  This is the first step for a Grassroots Movement that has begun that is uniting the district to work together towards keeping All schools open and for finding a “Real” solution to budget issues that face all of us now and into the near future.  Ventura County Supervisor, Linda Parks, is interested in attending this meeting as well as other local government representatives who are interested in our cause.

The main focus on Monday night will be for us all to coordinate our efforts for the upcoming School Board Meeting on the 18th. Our focus has to be reviewed...this is no longer about fighting the individual statistics or talking about how wonderful our individual schools are - this is about UNITY and speaking about our goals as a school district to fight school closures and budget concerns in general.

The PTA's from all CVUSD schools are being invited, so this is not just a University gathering. We welcome and need all support!!!!

 

 

See you there,

Ron Ballen

Update on School Closures

Click here to view the district's latest closure update.

Two New School Closures Announced

The District’s Facilities Goals Committee met on February 20, 2008 to review the Board revised school closure criteria data and have reached a decision to recommend closing University Elementary and Meadows Elementary in fall 2009.

Please refer to the CVUSD website for more detailed information.

Back to the Drawing Board

The Conejo Valley School District has chosen to do the right thing.  At the February 5th board meeting the board voted to throw out the results of the original Primary Criteria analysis and start the scoring process all over again.  After over four hours of public comment from our active community, the board made a bold decision and the school closure process will now have the opportunity for an open and thorough review.

Congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard to realize this outcome.  Now the hard work begins.  Many parents still believe that school closure in any form is not necessary.  We will continue to engage in this process to ensure that any analysis is fair and accurate and to express that we believe that all schools should remain open.

Click here to read the article in the Ventura County Star.

Letters to the Editor

Please note that the links to the Acorn for January 31st are links to Letters to the Editor from the following authors:

Paul Kessler

Jo Anne Cobasko

Karen Cabelli

We do not condone any remarks that are negative or seek to discriminate against any student population or school.  Any such remarks will be removed from this site.  Our goal and purpose is to keep ALL schools in the Conejo Valley open.

Do the RIGHT thing.

For ALL students.

Today AND tomorrow.