The Governor has promised our "protection" at the beginning of this month in his annual address. For that we are thankful -- I think. Upon closer inspection of the actual budget proposal we see less money to the tune of about $250 per student. That adds up to a loss for us in RUSD of about $10 million. While those in Sacramento would argue this is not a cut -- they just took an one-time reduction and turned it into a reoccurring reduction -- from my perspective it sure feels like a substantial budget reduction that will directly effect our students. Additionally, they are prescribing a small "negative COLA" that results in a loss of another million or so -- "a million here a million there, pretty soon it adds up to real money." These effects move our RUSD current $37 million deficit for 2010-11 to close to a $50 million deficit.
I am not in Sacramento (thank goodness), but we need our Governor and Legislators to "get real" about the state budget and the economy of this state. My concern is both this current budget and what is happening to educational funding. But beyond all of that (which some could argue is self-serving), what is Sacramento's plan for our economy and economic health in a global marketplace. I feel no less concerned when others are sharing the same concern.
Hello....just curious as to what happened to the Negotation Updates section of RUSD's website.
ReplyDeleteIt is re comforting to know RUSD has more than $72,000,000 in reserves in case the Governor does not follow through with his promise to "protect" schools. However, I wonder how much of this money would be used to "protect" our students, and staff.
ReplyDeleteExactly! I agree, where is that money? how is it being used? Seems like you don't value our teachers and students, because the first thing you cut is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO EDUCATION--TEACHERS
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