San Diego Unified last week restored hundreds of jobs for teachers after state lawmakers patched together a budget that gave schools more money than they were expecting.
But even as San Diego Unified restores jobs, it faces continued uncertainty over its budget. The California budget depends on optimistic projections for state revenue. If California gets much less money than it had hoped for, it could trigger school cuts in the middle of the school year.
It has already gotten some bad news. May and June revenues have already fallen shortof what California had budgeted for, the Sacramento Bee reported earlier this week. California took in $352 million less than lawmakers had hoped for — $849 million instead of $1.2 billion.
San Diegans 4 Great Schools is unsure if it will try to re-launch its campaign to remake the school board or do something different after it fell short on signatures to get onto the ballot.
"All of us don't view this as a total end," said Scott Himelstein, president of the group. "The question is, where do we go from here? People are ready to continue the work. But we don't know what form that takes."
The campaign argued the school district was failing its students and aimed to expand the school board and change the way it was chosen, adding four appointed members to the five existing elected trustees. It grew out of a group of philanthropists, business leaders, parents and others frustrated with the exit of former Superintendent Terry Grier.