I know that issues of war and emergency preparedness are on our mind, but there is a crisis here, closer to home that needs both our understanding AND our action. Tom Mohr, superintendent of the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD) recently addressed the Foster City Council about the CRISIS facing that school district. I do not use the word CRISIS lightly.
SMUHSD is a basic aid district. That means that under a series of laws dating back to 1973 and a court decision known as Serrano v. Priest, school funding in this State has fallen into two types of categories. Those school districts whose tax base was sufficient to meet the minimum funding standard set by the State were allowed to keep all of their local property tax revenue earmarked for education.
For those districts which did not meet this minimum funding standard from local tax dollars, the State would fund this additional education amount (these other districts are called general aid districts). SMUHSD is fortunate to be a basic aid district which means it gets to keep all of the local property tax revenue earmarked for education.
However, the Governor?s budget proposal is to strip away from local basic aid districts all local property tax funds which exceed the State?s minimal obligation. This means that SMUHSD would lose $18 million of its $75 million budget or the equivalent of 24% of its entire budget. Already 75 teachers have received layoff notices, in additional to 91 ?classified? employees and an additional 16% of administration and management employees.
This type of cut will not just make it hard to make ends meet, it will CRIPPLE our local high school district. To make matters worse, the Governor is not even taking these funds and putting them back into education. Instead he is just ?taking the money? to balance the State?s general fund. While the SMUHSD is willing to take its fair share of the budget cuts, say $4 million, it cannot survive with a $18 million cut to its budget.
If you have ever written an elected official before (and even if you have not), this is the time to do so. Please write Governor Davis at the State Capitol, Sacramento, 95814 and tell him to leave local educational funding alone and remove his budget proposal attacking revenues of basic aid school districts.
Also, don?t forget Foster City?s open house of its new City Hall on Saturday, March 29, from 1-4 p.m.. Deborah can be reached at dwilder@fostercity.org
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