Fixing budget with school funds, really?

‘Tis the season of the pink slip. As the economy does a dive the pink

slips begin floating throughout the nation -- heavily in Southern

California.

They are a frightening, disheartening and maddening reality. As we

learn that the Laguna Beach Unified School District has handed out

preliminary layoff notices to its principals and 30% of its teachers,

the first reaction is shock and disappointment.

The fact is, regardless of the final budget decision, the district

will not layoff all those people, but even with just a few layoffs,

disappointment is to be expected. What happened to the days that

teachers were desperately needed -- so much that emergency

credentials were a common solution?

We doubt that there are any less children needing education, so

that just means more crowded classes for teachers.

The proposed 2003-04 spending plan announced by Gov. Gray Davis

calls for a redirection of excess property tax collected by basic aid

districts. The cuts would reduce next year’s Laguna Beach district

budget from an estimated $23.7 million to $17.7 million.

One of the casualties of a decimated budget could be 20 to 1 class

sizes for kindergarten through third grade. Some say the class size

reduction wasn’t working -- maybe not when the teacher has yet to

earn a credential and is brand new -- but that will be solved as

teachers gain experience. Who can deny that more teacher attention

per student is a boon? Many say it was invaluable and brought up

reading and math scores.

An interesting aspect of the story in Laguna is that teachers and

administrators here aren’t taking their frustration out on district

officials. It’s the state they’re taking issue with, and the

direction is valid.

Who would have thought that the answer to our budget crisis would

be to cut funding to schools? Supt. Theresa Daem has suggested

writing state legislators asking them not to unfairly cut more from

basic-aid school districts. If you take up her call to write, don’t

forget about the class size issue. It’s only our future we’re talking

about.

To hear more about the district’s options the public can attend a

special meeting by the board of education to discuss proposed plans

of action from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on March 25 at the District Educational

Center, 550 Blumont St. Information: (949) 497-7700.