Julian D. Crocker
County Superintendent of Schools

SCHOOLS, LOCAL BUSINESS AND THE STATE BUDGET

In January, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed a state budget for 2008-09 that included over $4.8 billion in cuts to the funding for California's public schools. This cut means a loss of over $24 million to the public schools in San Luis Obispo County. Since over 85% of school district budgets are committed to personnel expenditures, our local school districts are forced to reduce staff in order to balance their budgets for the 2008-09 school year. These reductions mean fewer teachers, counselors, administrators, clerical staff, classroom aides, bus drivers, food service workers, custodians and maintenance staff. Reductions will also be made in staff training, classroom materials, technology and building maintenance.

The direct impacts of these cuts on students are larger classes and fewer specialists for additional student help. The impact on our staff will be a greater difficulty in attracting and retaining quality teachers and less training for current staff. The impact on our capital investments (buildings, vehicles and equipment) will be obsolescence and reduced maintenance leading to higher costs in the future. In summary, these reductions will be very damaging to our schools and will severely impact the quality of education for students at a time when we need to be investing more in our schools to meet the high expectation that we have for all students.

Parents, students and those of us who work in our schools have an obvious reason to be very concerned about the effects of the Governor's proposed budget on education. I also submit that the larger business community also has cause to be very concerned about these reductions to public schools and here are four reasons why:

Strong public schools are an essential part of workforce development. Preparation for productive employment for all students has been one of the major purposes of our nation's schools. An essential component in our past economic success as a nation has been an educated work force. America led the way in the world toward the goal of universal education and it is no coincidence that our historic high standard of living and economic prosperity has followed. An educated workforce is even more important now in a highly competitive global economy. The ability to continue to deliver on this promise of an educated workforce is being threatened by reducing our education investment in California. As a state, we currently spend $1800 per student below the national average even before the proposed budget reductions for next school year.

Strong public schools are a major contributor to the local economy. In San Luis Obispo County, there are over 6,000 full and part-time employees of our public schools. The monthly payroll for these employees is $22 million. Much of this money is either spent or invested locally. The total annual budgets for our local school districts are over $325 million. This also represents a significant amount of goods and services purchased locally. The systematic dismantling of our schools by under-investing will have a negative financial impact on local businesses and our economy.

Strong public schools are a primary factor in attracting and keeping young families in our community. These families are employers, employees and consumers in our local marketplaces. It is in the best interest of the overall business climate and our cherished "quality of life" to have a diverse, educated and vibrant community. The second question most young families ask when they are considering living here, after the price of housing, is about the quality of the local schools. Education is one of the only ways that people can raise themselves out of poverty and become a productive member of the community. Education is the primary prevention strategy for many of the social costs that we all pay for later such as poverty, crime and unemployment. Prevention is in everyone's best interest, including the business community.

Strong public schools are an investment that business understands. Successful businesses know that in order to improve and innovate they have to invest wisely in people, technology, equipment, research and training. In order to improve our schools, we also need to invest in our teachers, our technology, our materials and in our facilities. Enlightened business leaders can be strong advocates for this social investment because they understand the power of investing for the future.