Big cuts, high anxiety in Cupertino
Families in Cupertino Union School District are anguished over their schools.
They thought that they had largely solved their district’s financial problems a year ago when they passed their first parcel tax, raising $4 million.
But now this K-8 Silicon Valley district, home of Apple Computer and some of the highest performing schools in the state, is facing a $9 million deficit for next year. And that’s putting in jeopardy many of the programs parents consider essential: small classes, summer school, the GATE program for gifted children, librarians.
On Thursday evening, when thousands of Bay Area teachers, students and supporters joined a protest in San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza, 300 or so Cupertino parents gathered in a middle school gym to hear how the state’s funding crisis has finally hit home and to plot what they can do about it.
The central theme: Lobby your legislators, but don’t count on them.
“Our parents are confused about school funding,” Julie Darwish, president of the regional PTA, told the crowd. “Can we trust politicians in Sacramento? No, we must take responsibility to invest in our local schools.”
To that end, the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation is asking parents to help put an initiative on the November ballot that would lower the threshold for passing a parcel tax from two-thirds to 55 percent to make it easier to pass the next parcel tax. ** And organizers are asking every family to donate $375 toward a goal of $3 million to keep small classes in grades one to three while saving 105 teachers who’ve been told they’ll otherwise lose their jobs.
But even then, the district would still face a $5-plus million deficit, with the dismissals of half of the custodians, resource teachers and other staff. Teachers have been asked to consider furlough days to save some programs and jobs.
Half of Cupertino’s nearly $9 million project deficit is from a loss of one-year federal stimulus money; the other half is from budget cuts that Gov. Schwarzenegger is proposing.
Cupertino is a relatively poor district among rich neighbors. For historical reasons dating back to Proposition 13 and a low poverty rate, its per student revenue is the lowest in Santa Clara County, at under $8,000. Nearby Palo Alto and Los Altos, with high property tax revenues, raise several thousand dollars more per student.
But Cupertino, a magnet for well-educated immigrants from Asia, has done remarkably well anyway, with the top two API scores (998 at Murdock-Portal and 996 at William Faria elementaries) and 15 of the top 150 schools – out of 10,000 – in the state.
Now, however, Cupertino is facing what other local districts have already gone through: raising classes from 20 to 31, dropping summer school, laying off counselors. And parents are frustrated and angry.
Cupertino families may be wealthy enough to come up with $375 each to stave off firing more than 100 teachers – at least for one year. But most districts don’t have that option – and no one but for Sacramento to turn to.
(**Correction: The PTA and others in Cupertino are asking parents to help put the initiative on the parcel tax on the statewide ballot in November. The non-profit Cupertino Education Endowment Fund is not part of that effort; it is focused on seeking tax-deductible contributions to offset local budget cuts.)
Its economics 101. Raising taxes in a depression reduces incoming tax revenue. It is better to find ways to improve the economy and reduce debt. All you smart cupertinos should know this.
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John once again you mislead and for no apparent reason. There are not 10,000 schools in California with an API. So why would you print such silly stuff? John
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John M.,
There are almost 8000 (7762 in 2008) California schools with API, and there are almost 10,000 (9764 per SchoolMatters.com) California schools altogether. Does it really matter whether John F. were to write “15 of the top 150 schools – out of 10,000 – in the state” or “15 of the top 150 schools – out of 8,000 with API – in the state”? Give John F. a hard time where it matters, not where it doesn’t.
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“Pragmatist” says that raising taxes reduces revenue and you need to improve the economy and reduce debt.
That’s a simplistic take on things.
Sure, increasing taxes does not result in a linear increase in revenue and at some point it will be counter-productive – but all the evidence is that rates have to be well over 50% before this happens.
Cutting teaching jobs in a recession also has a knock on effect on the rest of the economy. It’s a pro-cyclical policy that deepens the recession and also cuts back on the essential investment in our future – the kids.
The correct response is what Keynes advocated (and Keynes was basically a conservative, despite the vilification that seems to be heaped on him from the modern American right). In a recession, keep government spending up, borrowing money that has no other place to go (as nobody is investing, that’s what the recession is all about). The flip side is that on the positive side of the cycle, taxes should if anything go up while spending is kept under control. Paying off the borrowing in the good times used to be good bi-partisan policy and can be seen in the history of all federal administrations until “voodoo economics” took over.
This should be economics 101, but there are way too many snake oil salesmen out there trying to sell quack medicine.
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Geoff,
Two questions.
(1) Even accepting your argument that taxation has negative effect above 50% (highly disputable), add up your income tax (about 25+% average, ~30% marginal in Cupertino) add social security & medicare at 7.65%, top with California state tax at 9.3% for almost everyone and you are at 46% marginal rate before you factor in your property taxes or local school bonds levies. And don’t forget it will just grow bigger next year, with Bush tax cuts going away even ignoring all other taxes in-everything-but-name being discussed. (2) When was the last time you saw any authority, Cupertino included, keep its spending under control once the recession passed and use the extra cash to pay off its debts faster?
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We’re seeing schools all over the country that are looking to get “creative” with their fundraising efforts. We’re hoping to help many of them by providing a free private label website where parents can post their vacation homes and let other parents in the district go on vacation with the proceeds benefiting the schools… http://www.geronimo.com for details.
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Cupertino, back in 2009, got a $125 parcel tax passed. Now, just two years later, they want to DOUBLE this unfair tax? That’s just too much. School teachers need to tighten their belts like the rest of us.
Please vote NO on Measure C Cupertino
http://noonmeasurec.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-will-happen-if-cupertino-measure-c.html
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Such GREED!
Greedy greedy people.
Jerry Brown cuts the school budget by 0.4% (really) and Cupertino Schools wants to raise my taxes by 100%! That’s right–they want to double it.
Anyone who votes yes on Cuperrtino Measure C is immoral. I pray for people like you.
THE PROBLEM with socialism is eventually you run out of other people’s money. GREEDY GREEDY GREEDY!
http://noonmeasurec.blogspot.com/2011/04/law-is-clear-and-cupertino-schools.html
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