This summer, San Diego Unified School District trustees were asked to make a difficult decision.
The district had prepared to lay off 1,400 employees, including about 800 teachers — about 10 percent of its entire workforce. Then the state offered a lifeline, issuing newly optimistic economic forecasts and telling districts to rehire teachers.
With the extra money, the district could now afford to bring back more than 300 teachers who had previously been told they'd be laid off. That would help keep cherished class sizes down at some of the district's most challenged schools, and, in board President Richard Barrera's words, prevent the district from "blowing up" programs that had been making significant headway.
Top officials at San Diego Unified say the district's financial health isteetering on the edge of a cliff. If the state cuts more funding this year, the district could soon fall over the edge and into insolvency.
As I explained yesterday, insolvency would then spur a radical shift in local control over San Diego's schools for decades to come. The state would take over the district, firing its superintendent and stripping its school board of all authority. Until the district repays a bailout, the state would remain a fixture in the district's financial affairs.
For a glimpse at what could happen to San Diego Unified, I examined what did happen to Oakland Unified in 2003. The district declared insolvency, received a $100 million bailout and then handed over control to the state.
Last week, top officials said the San Diego Unified School District is on the brink of financial collapse and may require a state takeover to remain afloat.
So what does that mean?
A takeover would push the state to loan the district millions of dollars to pay for its bills. Declaring insolvency would spur radical changes in the district's operations.
Things have gotten to the point at the San Diego Unified School District that its top two officials are tossing around a big word: insolvency.
Here's Superintendent Bill Kowba,according to the Union-Tribune:
“Barely one month after school has opened we are at the edge of the cliff, looking over and down at insolvency,” Kowba told the school board Tuesday night. “We are facing the reality of midyear budget cuts that could be the starting point on the road to insolvency and state takeover.”