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Home :: Discover EGUSD :: Superintendent :: Superintendent's Message
Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget includes the largest dollar budget cuts to public education in the history of California. While we are all aware of California’s current fiscal crisis, I find myself wondering what message this sends to our youth.
California is already ranked 46th in the nation for per pupil expenditures. California school districts receive $7,081 per pupil from the state. The national average that a state spends on public education is $8,973. New York spends $12,218 per pupil. California must do better.
And yet the proposed state budget would decrease California’s per pupil spending. The Governor's budget closes the state's $14.5 billion budget gap through cuts alone, with no revenue increases. He has proposed the equivalent of a 10% reduction in all state department budgets for fiscal year 2008-09, including public education. Also on the table is his recommendation to suspend Proposition 98. While we recognize that the process is ongoing at this time, this proposal, if brought to fruition, represents a serious financial challenge to our school district and public education.
Under the proposed state budget, Elk Grove Unified would face $25 million in cuts for the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 school years. We are in the process of recommending potential reductions that will allow EGUSD to submit a balanced budget for the next three years, as well as exploring ongoing ways to increase efficiency wherever possible.
With any budget development process, there are two sides of the equation: revenues and expenditures. The revenue side of the Governor’s budget is bleak and we realize that public education will likely face less state funding next year than we had this year. To compound the situation, the district’s costs of doing business continue to rise each year, especially in the area of health care and benefits. Even in good years, there is always the balancing act of meeting the increased costs with available revenues.
While the Governor’s proposal is only the first step in the legislative budget, it must be considered and we must prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Please know that at a special board meeting on February 4, 2008, the Elk Grove Unified School District’s Board of Education passed Resolution No. 39, 2007-08, in which it strongly opposes the Governor’s 2008-09 budget proposal. In addition, on behalf of the district, I have written letters to our legislative representatives asking for their assistance in speaking up for public education as they work through the budget crisis. Together Californians must ensure our state invests in our future -- our children.
Steven M. Ladd, Ed.D.
Superintendent
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