| Help Preserve Education: Vote Yes on E |
Published: THURSDAY, 29 APRIL 2010 | |
Point Since 2000, the state of California has cut many millions of dollars in funding from AUSD's annual budget, with the cuts coming at an alarmingly accelerated rate over the past 18 months. Thanks to the largesse of our community, past parcel taxes have helped student test scores to continue to rise and graduation rates to climb. But new proposed cuts pose a drastic threat to student success. Our community is being offered a choice: we can choose to maintain our great education system by supporting Measure E, which will immediately replace Measures A and H and entails an increase of less than a dollar a day, or we can choose to dismantle the system that has supported our community for decades. Over the past six years, AUSD has reduced its administrative costs, while the average costs in districts throughout Alameda County has risen. AUSD is doing more with less. After a year of public meetings and input, the district has adopted a master plan that charts a course for AUSD if Measure E passes: maintaining small classes in kindergarten through third grade, continuing music, arts, AP and PE courses, and retaining quality teachers, while cutting $2.5 million in costs to balance the budget. The alternative is grim. A draconian $7 million in cuts will be made this September, growing to $17 million by 2012. Elementary school class sizes will jump from 20 to 35 kids. Middle school electives, high school sports, music and arts classes are on the chopping block. Our neighborhood schools will be replaced by four mega elementary schools (Earhart, Lincoln, Wood, Bayport), one middle school (Encinal) and one high school (Alameda)—the traffic will be horrendous and one wonders if the district will have to sell the non-used sites in order to pay for the new construction that will be needed. And the kicker? Closing elementary schools only saves the district a little over $700,000, savings that will disappear if about 150 children leave the district. If this happens, AUSD will end up with construction debt and less income, leading to even more drastic cuts in programs and larger class sizes. Measure E will preserve the education that our community values so highly, building on the district's successes in reducing administrative costs. A strong education system adds up to something larger than the sum of its parts. Our schools attract many young families, support our property values, and in turn support the local business community that we all cherish. Measure E is a mail-only | |