Dr. Brown’s Letter to the Editor opining on my essay, is just that–his opinion. I will stand by the facts I used as reference because they were all obtained from official websites of the State of California, LA County Office of Education, or the CCUSD. Many times, I cross-referenced them to be sure of the facts before using them.
I made no charges. Just presented facts to back up my opinion. But, I can assure Dr. Brown that being a Culver High School graduate from the Class of 1969, I do know the difference between the mean, the median, the average and the mode.
It’s true that in 2011-12, our average teacher salary was ranked 44th in LA County at $63,379. But after increasing district employees’ compensation by over $19.0M over the last 5 years, you would expect our average teacher salary would be much nearer to the county’s median. But, in 2015-16, our district was only ranked 41st at $78,935 and last year, at $79,044 it was only barely out of the bottom quartile and ranked 35th in LA County- still almost $3,150 below the LA County median.
How Much For a Good School District?
I agree with Dr. Brown that living in close proximity to a good school district may increase its value or help in selling a house; especially if the potential buyers are planning on raising a family. But, this begs the question: How much does a good or great school district boost local property values? 5%? 10%? It probably varies with each community and buyer. But, with today’s tight, local housing market, one would think that Supply & Demand would be having a much bigger impact on local housing prices than by just living in or near a good school district.
Lesser Importance
Today, where you live is not as important as it used to be. Intra-district and out-of-district permits are so much easier to obtain now-a-days–are there any “neighborhood schools” still left? Here in Culver City where we have a low school-aged population, about 1/4 of our students attending our schools are coming in on some sort of permit. This is a good thing, no?
I never suggested ripping up the contract or that staff take a reduction in pay. Those were his words, not mine. I was only using teacher salaries as an example to show how the board misspent the district’s one-time reserve funds.
I use teacher data, not to attack teachers, but only because the state and county collect a lot of data on certificated employees and it is quite accessible for the reader to check, if they want, to see if my figures are correct.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Since my respect for teachers has been called into question, I guess I need to reaffirm, once again, that I highly respect and admire our teachers for the tough job they do in the classroom in educating chilDr.en and putting up with parents.
Here is a column I wrote back in 2011:
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR A CHILD’S EDUCATION?
The quality of the teacher in front of a classroom, although very important, may not be the most critical of all factors in a student’s learning. Other contributing factors include: (not ranked in any order) Parental expectations, parental involvement, parental education, home/family stability, older siblings, peers, socio-economics, ethnicity and culture, English-language proficiency, disability, motivation, political trends, and adequate state funding of Education.
BEYOND THEIR CONTROL
Many of these cited factors cannot be adDr.essed by a classroom teacher. Some, alone or in combination, even go well beyond the realm of the school community, itself; let alone, the influence of any single teacher.
PERSONAL STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
Even skilled instructors, who are experts in their subject matter, have their own personal strengths and weaknesses and may not be able to achieve a level of success with each and every individual student in their classes. In some cases, students may succeed, in spite of a teacher’s personal shortcomings. Still, others won’t achieve even basic subject proficiency, regardless of the herculean efforts made by the intervening school staff and other teachers.
TEACHER ACCOUNTABILITY, MISGUIDED
Despite all the other previous factors that can and do have significant effects on a students’ learning; why the Public still views the teacher’s role as being “thee One” that should be held ultimately accountable for a student’s achievement is beyond me!
THE STUDENT’S OWN ROLE
What about the student’s attitude towards his or her own education? That reminds me of the old adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him Dr.ink.” And its related spin on education, “You can make a kid go to school, but you can’t make him think.”
PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
The role of the student’s parent/guardian is of equal or greater importance than that of the classroom teacher in educating a child. Yet, it is still the teacher whom society looks to hold even more accountable for each student’s success or failure in our educational system.
And that’s just not right!
Now, does that sound like someone who doesn’t respect educators?
One More Indicator
At the March 13 Board meeting, Sean Kearney, the Director of Fiscal Services, warned board members that if nothing is done the district will have to show a “qualified” projected budget, instead of our normal “positive” certification.
This year, the board is running a 7.7% deficit (with $70M in revenues) that comes to about $4,500,000 worth of deficit spending. His report also showed the district still running a 3.5% deficit in 2019-20.
His report also showed the deficits were caused: Due to salary schedule increases and STRS and PERS increases. The deficit amounts will be offset in the future by a potential parcel tax in 2018-19 and continued enrollment growth. If these do not balance the budget, the district will implement a spending reduction plan.
This is just one more indicator that this Board’s debt-laden salary promises has put our district onto a precarious path.
Unforeseen or Just Not Concerned
I do agree that the STRS and PERS increases were beyond the district’s control and was something that could not have been foreseen in 2012. But when the legislature mandated these new increases, board members should have taken heed of the long-term future burden these mandates posed and should have reopened negotiations, asking the union to agree to stop or scale back the raises or maybe renegotiate a longer time line in reaching their joint salary goal. But, Board members didn’t. They decided to continue, year after year after year, to take money out of our district’s one-time money reserves to sustain their deficit spending as if nothing had changed.
Now, they want even more money from local homeowners in the form of a parcel tax. How is giving them more going to change their spending habits?
Where is this new funding going to go? If, as the second interim stated that the deficits were due to salary increases and STRS and PERS increases, then, most–if not all–of the parcel tax will probably go to fill those deficits caused by the increases in district-wide salaries and the district’s annually increasing pension payments. The reasons for the parcel tax should be clear and none of the money will ever reach or be directly spent on our kids.
Mr. Lebedoff Anders says that the teachers and the state also contribute to CalSTRS. That’s true, but, he forgot to mention how much more the teachers’ pay. Their contribution has jumped a couple of percentage points from 8% to 10.25% (28%) and there it legally remains locked in. The district’s increase, though, will more than double (215%) by 2020-21 and legally could be increased incrementally as needed until 2042.
Plenty of Talk
Mr. Lebedoff Anders wonders if I have attended a Culver City school and if I have even talked with a teacher, parent or Board member. I grew up in Culver City, went through the CCUSD, and graduated, as did my two daughters. Before retiring and now afterwards, I am on campus most everyday taking pictures of our student/athletics for the High school and the local papers. So, yes, I have talked to many district employees over the years: Teachers, students, their counselors, custodians and security. But, when it comes to talking to Board members, I really don’t think the board or its administrative staff really want to hear from me more than they do now.
Importance of Classroom Experience
Why do most districts pay their long-time, veteran educators more than their beginning teachers? It’s because, over time, the veterans have gained on the job experience. An experience that has to be learned through doing and which cannot be taught or purchased.
Classroom Experience Matters!
I like to think of teaching as doing “brain surgery;” only outwardly massaging the students’ minds with aural and optical stimuli, without, of course, doing any actual cutting.
But if you don’t think experience is important in teaching, put yourself in this situation: What if your child had a life-threatening brain tumor and needed to have surgery. Who would you want holding the scalpel: A first or second year intern learning on the job or an experienced brain surgeon?
Retaining and Hiring the Best Available
There may be a good district vetting system for hiring new teachers, but you can only hire those who want to apply and when prospective teachers compare our average salary (ranked 35th) with other higher paying school districts; I don’t think our district is going to be at the top of their list when they start looking for a teaching job.
Where Did the Money Go?
Dr. Brown ended by saying that “…bringing teachers up to the median level in salaries was a terrific goal…” But, in the last five years, the school board already has deficit spent about $14.5M, raised district-wide compensation by 46%–at a cost of almost $20M, and the district still hasn’t reached the LA County median for average teacher salaries.
Was Dr. Brown suggesting that the board should have spent more than it did? He begins sounding like one of our current Board members “Spend, spend, spend!” And when the money runs out, just go ask the tax payers for more!
Bad Choices Made
Board members made numerous, unsound, multi-year choices when voting to continue to raise the pay of district employees; even though knowing that such staff raises would also increase the district’s cost of its STRS and PERS pension contributions.
So now, Board members find that the district’s future pension payments are going to take an even bigger chunk out of the budget. The Board seems not to be able see a way to sustain these still-increasing STRS and PERS payments. So it looks first to community and it goes begging for even more money–about $10.0M over seven years.
Fiduciary Responsibility
We elect community members to watch over our school district, set policy and decide where to spend district funding. This Board has continued to misspend one-time money on on-going expenditures for years and it’s finally catching up to them. Now they want the community to help them get out of their fiscal hole they dug with their own past, misguided choices.
Use of Parcel Tax
The district’s finances are close to being in shambles. So, it’s not if, but when the Board decides to put a parcel tax on the ballot. When it does, the public should demand that it be written to expand the usually popular sounding “NO money for administration salaries,” to include, “NO money in support of district compensation.” If they don’t, then, it will be quite telling to voters where this current board is planning to spend the $10M over the next seven years.
Electing New Board Members
The current elected members have shown that they do not possess the fiscal self-discipline needed in overseeing our district nor have they been able to put a stop to their deficit spending–which is projected to go on well into the next decade. Then, as voters, the community will have to impose its own form of fiscal discipline onto this board.
The community should not pass their up-coming parcel tax. At least, not until all the current, seemingly deficit addicted Board members can be replaced with new, more fiducially responsible members from our community.
— George Laase
