This past Saturday, January 10, 2009, at the Arvada Library in Olde Town, my wife and I (our daughter goes to Pomona High School) attended one of five public meetings hosted by Jeffco school board members to discuss proposed district budget cuts. The gathering we went to was led by board member Scott Benefield.
In November 2008, Jefferson County voters said no to two tax increases asked for by the school board. 3A, a mill levy measure, and 3B, a bond issue, were rejected in spite of zero organized opposition to the proposals. (Pssst, there is a recession going on.)
I also was against these measure for reasons that can be seen here.
The Jeffco school board and administration is now telling us that $35 million must be cut from the school district budget over the next three years because revenues will not now meet what previously was predicted needed to be spent.
Here are a few of my observations from the Saturday morning meeting.
I will commend the school board for having these meetings for the public -- input from the taxpayers and users of government services is always a good idea in a representative democracy. However, I hope that the board is seeking out such communication from the public in other venues as well. Of a group of about thirty or forty people who attended this event, probably over half were folks and or family members dependent upon the Jeffco school district for their livelihood. It is natural that employees are especially interested in how the budget is cut -- but it needs to be recognized that there is a self-interest involved in the opinions of these citizens -- as opposed to those who have students attending the schools and/or just foot the bill for them.
As a consequences of the make-up of the audience, most of the offerings were about items that should not be cut from the budget. One revealing remark noted that 'gifted and talented' programs were important because without that curriculum those student would "be at risk." But, of course, is there any demographic of students that is not "at risk" from someone's perspective?
Sports shouldn't be cut or teacher's wages shouldn't be cut or special needs programs shouldn't be cut ... you get the picture. Inevitably with a room full of district employees towards the end of this meeting the charge obliquely was uttered that if a person voted against tax increases for school they must be against kids and education. Not unexpected, but not helpful.
During the course of a little discussion about federal and state mandates on the school system, I asked why didn't we just stop doing some of those costly requirements, what would happen then? This suggestion was scoffed at with the education professionals in the group proclaiming that "we'd lose federal funding!" And, Benefield noting that if the district didn't perform these mandates the district might be "taken over" -- to which I replied that that might not be a bad idea and then let the Feds or the state pay for their imposed programs.
Frankly, I think that some revolutionary thinking is in order if our Jeffco and Colorado schools are going to actually improve and give taxpayers their money's worth. I'd suggest that Jeffco cut every single dollar that comes from the county's taxpayers going for preparation and administering the CSAP testing. If the state government or the federal government wants the tests done, they can spend their own money and come in here and do it. I think this is even worth going to court over or even risking the unthinkable -- losing federal funds. But if a bold stand in defense of fiscal responsibility and teaching children isn't taken, then the spiral down is just going to continue anyway.
However, we all know that risk averse politicians (elected school board members) and bureaucratic school administrators will never stand-up to the powerful people holding the purse strings -- local control of education is pretty much dead, except when it comes to being taxed.
Consequently, while I applaud the intention of seeking public comment, the meeting was not particularly helpful. If the school board and administration want to build some public support for the cuts they are going to be making, perhaps concerted outreach to non-employee citizens might be more productive ... it certainly would be better public relations.
Finally, though the amount of money that must be cut will require impacting a significant part of the budget like wages and benefits, I think for the purposes of letting the tax paying public know that the district is serious, some symbolic measures should be taken. I don't know who pays for the police officers in the middle and high schools, but if it is the district, then let's save some money by defunding that -- schools really are some of the safest places there are, we don't need to cater to fear. I certainly hope that administrators are not driving district owned or leased cars -- if bus service is going to be reduced ... well. How about no district supplied cell phone service? Could there be savings by eliminating computer training in the grade schools -- maintenance, equipment, internet service?
My last word is a reminder to the school board and all the employees of the Jeffco school district -- there is an increasingly severe recession taking place -- there isn't going to be money available for tax increases. This round of cuts is probably just the beginning.
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