How Do We Fix This Mess? By Camille Zombro, SDEA President and Marc Capitelli, SDEA Vice President Apparently an analogy we used at the School Board meeting on March 11 has struck a responsive chord. Let's recap. Decades ago, for some of us are that old, we were teaching in a Cadillac educational system. It was spacious and everyone fit. We went tooling down the road, having a grand old time. Our system had lots of frills. We had music for all students. We practiced art. Social Studies was an important part of our curriculum. Science even made it into the classroom on a regular basis. We had programs to teach youngsters a useful skill for a job market other than fast food. Kids had recess AND PE all the way through high school.

Well someone convinced the electorate that we could cut fat and still have a quality educational system. So we edu- cators traded in our Cadillac for a Buick and got by, but 2 years of PE got trashed from high school, Latin became esoteric and some schools had to charge for chemistry class. It didn't much matter that there was less room because we could always cut someone's job. Did it really matter if our rooms got cleaned every other day instead of every day? 40 students didn't demand that much more work. If a few students got squeezed out in the process, we always took care of them in another system, be it court or social services.

That worked so well that there must be more fat to trim. So we educators traded in our Buick for a Chevy Nova (remember what "No Va" means in Spanish). Elementary music in the classroom went, Junior High School became Middle School and lost most of the really fun stuff, and High School began cutting "frills" that kept students in school. Auto shop, trade programs and other non-college bound studies went away. Speech and debate and various languages disappeared or became "clubs." A few more students got squeezed out, but the other systems would take care of them.

Hey, schools were still open, and now we got an unfunded NCLB thrown into the mix, but there was still more fat to cut from education. This time we moaned a little about NCLB, but we traded in our Chevy Nova for a VW bug. Not one of the new, fancy ones, but an old 36 horsepower one with a few dents in it. Into it we stuffed the students and employees. It was tight, but what with limiting our schools to an abbreviated college bound curriculum and only teaching "literacy" and math in elementary, doing away with just about everything else and having schools maintained, oops, throw that out, we chugged down the road. An interesting note; there was plenty of money to build jails. Pay for it now or pay for it later. It is an interesting choice that politicians have made.

We must remember that through all of this politicians have kept hammering the mantra "less taxes and still have services." The electorate accepted as fact that bridges would not fall down, pot holes would get fixed, and students would get a quality education as we kept cutting taxes for Exxon/Mobil, didn't make people pay their yacht tax and the Governor got rid of that evil car tax.

In order to continue playing this game we have to make a huge assumption. The governor seems to think that our educational system was working fine before he suggested whacking 4.5 billion from it. STOP!! I can't play anymore! The system has been underfunded for decades. It is only now, in this present crisis that it is coming into focus again. With the School Board's latest decisions we are going to run our bug on three wheels. This car is so old it does not have seatbelts. We are headed for a catastrophic collision.

We have been cheating our students out of the quality education they deserve. The promise that once was California is now hollow. Our pre-K system is patched. Our K-12 system is broken. Our junior college system is on "injured reserve." Our state college system is stuffed; San Diego State is a "small college" with 40,000 students? Our vaunted UC system is shattered. Higher education is no longer an affordable promise. Not only have we cheated our children, we have put the future of our state in jeopardy of not having the workforce it needs to thrive and survive in this new millennium. BUT, we still can keep building prisons! We can pay $50,000 + per year per prisoner and under $10,000 per year per student. How ludicrous that NCLB's test curve becomes a mountain the same year the "exterminator" wants to slash funding. Educators can no longer do more with less!

Educators can no longer stand by. All of us must retake the field. OK, enough whining. Now is the time to begin fixing our broken system and here is the list.

Short Term

The short term target is the SDUSD School Board. They don't get a pass or an excuse because they need "flexibility" or because they didn't plan for the inevitable crisis that hit our schools every few years. Our brothers and sisters who now face layoffs didn't sign on to support "flexibility." The School Board made a commitment to students and parents to bring talented new educators into our communities and to support the important work that happens in our classrooms.

1.    The School Board's non-existent planning has resulted in their layoff actions.
2.    Their refusal to lower the reserve means 200+ jobs being cut for every 1% they refuse to use.
3.    Their actions resulted in entire staffs being decimated.
4.    Their actions resulted in 1 in 10 educators receiving layoff notices.
5.    They did not listen to us when we told them how to control costs, and now they are asking employees to bail them out with our jobs, our careers, our families.
6.    Their attitude of  "let somebody else find the money" has cost hundreds of jobs.

Don't Give Them a Pass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Attend the April 22 School Board meeting (5:00 pm).
   • Speak at ANY School Board meetings on budget issues-that's       everything. Every dollar they spend can be tied to the number of jobs they must reinstate.
       
   • Let them know, "rescind the RIFs or we will make you pay!" We will hold them responsible at the ballot box.
      
   • Tell them to summon the political will to make the choices they should have made years ago.
     
2. Leaflet parents in front of your school. Enlist parents to email, write or call School Board members.
   
3. E-mail your School Board members (board@sandi.net ).
   
4. Write your School Board members (Ed. Center, Room 2129).
   
5. Call your School Board members (619/725-5500).
   
6. Enlist your neighbors, who vote, to email, write or call School Board members.

Long Term

1.    We need to convince the electorate that public education is worth funding and not feel ashamed to do so. Stop being quiet about what our children need.
2.    We need to convince the electorate that a Cadillac public education system that keeps students engaged and supports those in need of help is CHEAPER than building and populating prisons. Stop being quiet about what our children need.
3.    We have to say the T word and not be embarrassed about it. Taxes pay for everything that government does. It does not matter if it is in the form of property, sales, value added, bonding, service  fee, or what politically correct label you put on it. Stop being quiet  about what our children need.
4.    We have to take back the playing field from slash and  burn (S&Bs) politicians who have convinced people they can have everything, at least the particular thing they want, and not pay for it. This does not mean being a "tax and spend liberal". It means that education is one of the things government (the people) is committed to doing; that if government (the people) is committed   to providing a quality public education for all children, you can't do it on the cheap! Stop being quiet about what our children need.

All of the above are accomplished by letting people know from the pulpit to Sacramento that our children deserve better and that our state is headed for economic disaster on the scale of the Great Depression.

1.    Write, email, telephone and speak out at every opportunity that is afforded to you. The message is simple, "fix public education funding or we will make you
pay."
2.    Work to elect politicians, at every level, who truly support public education not give it lip service. Arnold calls himself the "education governor"? PLEASE!!!!
3.    Stop being quiet about what our children need! We know that educators don't like opening their mouths outside of their classrooms or the lounge. You have to talk to your brothers and sisters, your moms and dads, your neighbors. We need to take back the playing field. Don't let the S&Bs dictate the terms of the conversation. Ask them, "Are you going to spend more on prisons or schools?"

Finally, never thought we would get there huh, don't be victims in this reality play. With all your frustration, with all your passion, with all your fervor and with all your rage, make politicians pay if they ignore you. Our system works when you become the citizen/politician. Make them change their vote or Vote these scoundrels out. The vote was 4 to 1 to issue these layoffs. Sheila Jackson voted against the layoffs. Keep her honest, make the others retire unless they muster the courage to do right by ALL SDUSD employees and the children we care for every day in every school!