School officials give state budget makers failing grade

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers RALLY FOR EDUCATION—Oak Park Superintendent of Schools Tony Knight, center, joins about 60 other school teachers, administrators and parents at a Sept. 5 protest in Westlake Village. School officials are demanding that a budget be approved—one that spares public education.

School district officials say they are fed up with California lawmakers' inability to agree on a state budget.

 

"If a student turned in their work this late they would get an 'F,'" said Peggy Buckles, a candidate for the Conejo Valley Unified School District Board of Education.

The new state budget is two months overdue.

About 60 administrators, staff, teachers, students and parents from several area school districts stood on the four corners of Westlake Boulevard and Townsgate Road in Westlake Village last Friday afternoon holding signs that read, "Kids come first. Fund education," and "Honk for kids."

Representing districts from Oak Park, Pleasant Valley, Conejo Unified, Las Virgenes, Simi Valley and Moorpark, demonstrators hoped to draw attention to the latest state budget in California history so that people do not become complacent, said Oak Park Schools Superintendent Tony Knight.

Josh Carolan, a government teacher at Thousand Oaks High School, collected signatures from rally participants on a petition that was to be presented later that day to Assemblymember Audra Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) at her nearby office.

"I hope that Audra Strickland and other legislators get the message that we want the games to stop," said Arleigh Kidd, California Teachers Association/LVEA executive director. "If she wants to be our representative, she needs to do her job."

The petition urged Strickland and her fellow lawmakers to finalize a budget. Kidd said he was in favor of the compromise budget formed on Aug. 17 that protects education. But Knight disagreed, calling the compromise budget inadequate, providing only a 0.9 percent cost of living increase. In Oak Park that translates to about $200,000 to be divided among the 400 Oak Park school employees and to cover the increasing costs of fuel, vehicles, supplies and paper, Knight said.

Compounding the problem is declining enrollment. Oak Park has 3,625 students districtwide this year, down from 3,707 last year. The district already made cuts in response to state budget issues and lower enrollment.

Students are feeling the cuts, said Daniel Wechter, a sophomore at Oak Park High School. Some of his classes, like Algebra 2 and biology, are overcrowded. Others have been combined, such as physics, to include advanced placement, honors and college prep all in one class.

"I'm against large classes. It makes it harder to learn when you're sitting on the floor," Wechter said.

Cost-saving measures implemented by the district include cutting sections of core classes being offered at Oak Park High.

Other classes, like journalism, are now after-school club options, and architecture is offered only to juniors and seniors. Courses like AP environmental science and creative writing were dropped altogether.

No budget means that districts will soon be out of funding, making it difficult to continue operating. Programs like special and gifted education will be forced to end, said Laurel Ford, Oak Park director of instructional services.

"I don't think people realize how bad it is," Ford said.

Ferial Masry, the Democratic challenger running against Republican incumbent Audra Strickland for the 37th Assembly District, said she was sad and upset by the indecision of lawmakers.

"When it comes to funding, more is spent on prisoners in jail than on education," Masry said. "We're closing schools yet building a $1billion prison hospital in Camarillo. Our future is in education—that's where the money needs to go."

According to Knight, part of the problem is that California is one of the few states that needs a twothirds vote to pass a budget.

"I think it should be a majority vote like other states do," Knight said.

"The plan needs to involve raising revenue, and there are a lot of different options," he said.

Knight favors placing a tax on oil extraction. He used Alaska as an example. The state raises billions of dollars annually through oil production fees, creating a state budget surplus.

"We're the only state that doesn't tax for this. The Assembly voted it down because they were afraid it would result in increased taxes," Knight said. "How come we're not getting some of that? I don't feel sorry for the oil companies. I feel sorry for the teachers and kids."