June 2, 2006

District 8 Report

4th annual Sacramento bus trip realigns legislators with local education priorities

By District 8 Councilmember Dave Cortese
Special to the Times

For the fourth year in a row, I organized a bus trip to Sacramento last month for a group of about 40 San Jose residents anxious to hear what state legislators had to say about our education system and how schools would be impacted by the Governor’s revised budget.

Senator Jack Scott, the Senate Education Committee Chair, presented the highlights of the budget subcommittee work that he had just finished for California: $950 million for one-time maintenance, the arts and physical fitness; full Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA); $50 million for special education and $75 million for counselors.

The messages we brought to Sacramento in 2006 were direct. One of them was: “Education needs to be fully funded, and the equations that determine local funding levels need to be recalculated.”

We met with more than 10 legislators and staff members, beginning with State Superintendent Jack O’Connell, to deliver this message and ask questions on a variety of topics, with Proposition 98 and equalization funding topping the list.

But California’s history of education funding requires a brief explanation. Since Proposition 13 passed in 1978, schools have relied primarily on state lawmakers for funding, rather than local tax revenues. Decisions about how much money to allocate for education and in what manner are in the hands of the Governor and legislators.

Consequently, California’s per-pupil spending has dropped far below the national average.

In 1988, voters approved Proposition 98, the Classroom Instructional Improvement and Accountability Act, as the basis for education funding in California. It amended the California Constitution by guaranteeing K-14 education (Kindergarten through Community College) a minimum amount of state and property tax revenue each year. The amount is based upon the fiscal health of the state’s economy for a given year. However, these Prop 98 funds have been raided in recent years to balance the state budget.

On the up side, this year the Governor’s 2006 budget revision restored education funding to levels mandated by Prop 98, compared to 2005, when education was one of the most deeply cut programs in the state budget. Each of the past two years, $2 billion of Prop 98 education funding that should have gone to schools was taken away.

During our visit, State Superintendent O’Connell lauded the increased funding in the Governor’s budget, but warned that this money isn’t ensured for charter schools or counseling and developmental programs.

Although things look better this year, news of the additional funding was bittersweet for many of our local education leaders, who pointed out that the minimum levels of funding were simply being reinstated – nothing to brag about.

Need to recalculate equations
Many of our lawmakers didn’t realize that San Jose schools receive drastically less funding than schools in affluent areas. Palo Alto schools, for example, receive more than $11,000 annually per student, while most San Jose schools receive about $7,000.

Schools in the Evergreen, Alum Rock, Mt. Pleasant elementary school districts receive even less than the San Jose average. That isn’t fair. San Jose kids are getting shortchanged, and we told our legislators how we felt about that!

The disparity began when Evergreen and East San Jose were largely rural, and property taxes coming from ranches and orchards, spread thinly out over the wide expanse of the East Foothills created a much lower tax base. This “old” tax base got locked in after 1978 with the passage of Prop 13.

Even though this bucolic view of Evergreen has long since been replaced by very upscale single family homes, the state seems to not recognize or acknowledge this difference between Evergreen of the mid-1970’s versus today in terms of the much greater property tax revenue.

According to O’Connell, equalization funding to rectify some of these inequities has increased from $100 million to $300 million in the Governor’s current (2006) budget proposal. This is good news and at least a small step in the right direction.

District 8 Councilmember Dave Cortese looks on as State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell speaks.

New residents join trip
Juan Flores, from Almaden Valley, was one of many new participants this year. Juan is a community leader who works at South Hills Community Church and supports various programs for the San Jose Unified School District.

I’d like to close by thanking Juan for the deep appreciation that he shared with my staff. It reaffirms why I’m so proud to offer this opportunity to San Jose citizens each year. Not only did he express his thanks for the invitation to attend, but he was grateful for the opportunity for citizens “to have their voices heard.”

Better yet, he vowed to share this experience with the youth in his life, “to empower them to get involved in government and to understand what this country is all about.”

It doesn’t get any better than that.

If you would like to see full meeting minutes or the background information presented before the trip, please contact my office at (408) 535-4908. This annual bus trip is not paid for at taxpayer expense.