I have no idea where the money in education goes. They spend $9600 a year on each kinder student. $9600 would get you into some great private schools. I can only guess they have a huge bureaucratic mess that was created during the "boom" years.
I am fine with cutting spending if they find ways to be more efficient while delivering a high level education, as well as not cutting back on teacher's salaries and not adding significantly to their workload. Hearing "We're going to cut back on education" though makes me without further details, as in the article it sounds like a declaration without much of a plan behind it. That said, $9600?
Thats part of their problem. The whole state is inflated well beyond most of the US, which makes them even more prone to recessions/deflation.
How much does the average techer make in CA? What is the medium salary? If the teachers does not make a huge amount where does the money go?
FranchiseBlade will probably know if these numbers are accurate or not. That is awfully low considering the location. That also leaves little incentive for an advanced degree. I know these are different years, but the fact that my county in Georgia gets paid similar amounts is stunning considering the difference in cost of living: http://www.hcbe.net/HR/files/C86CCCDC50B14CDC941CCE7955ADE752.pdf
That is like average of about 4-5 students to support one techer. Where did the rest of the money go? wasted? I know there are untilities and transportation but I always thought compared to teacher salary those are small? Do they have like one secretary for every teacher or something? This just does not make sense.
Those numbers might be right. It's hard to get a precise picture from statewide numbers. Some districts pay significantly more, and some don't. So in some school districts the salaries are definitely higher, but there are some rural school districts where the salaries are really tough. They've been knocking back the increased incentive for a Masters or PHD for years now. I think now in my school district it averages out to about $40.10 extra a month for a Masters. But the more education credits you have the more it moves you up the regular pay scale. As far as the money per student being spent in CA, it depends on the school. Schools have some leeway in how they can spend the money. Teachers salaries, nurses salaries, office staff salaries, administration's salaries, counselor's salaries, benefits, school supplies, lunch food, breakfast food, custodial staff, maintenance, cafeteria staff, teachers aids, playground supervision, etc. is all figured into this. CA has full day Kinder now instead of half day. If the schools have any additional literacy coaches, math coaches, computer rooms, English Language Development coordinators, title I coordinators, they all have to be paid as well. But as far as where specifically the money for each student is spent, it will differ from school to school. Our school which has 56 teachers, one principle, two assistant principles, and over 1000 students has an office staff of 4.
My kid goes to a public school so I don't want any cuts either. The best situation, of course, would be for the economy to improve. And tell us where the $9600 goes. I would just hope that the politicians learn their lessons. When the economy does improve and revenues increase, don't assume it will last forever. That's part of the problem. They make their revenue projections based on booming, bubble real estate tax revenues. Who knows? The proposed cuts might just be to rollback to 2006 levels... If that is drastic, I would like to know what the spending increases since 2006 (just an example) went.
I think the problem is that a lot of the $9600 dollars (this is what LAUSD told me) probably goes to bureaucratic administrators that never step foot into any of the schools. Each actual school that I've seen looks fine. Principals and faculty all seem like pretty good people who care about their jobs and who are not getting overpaid by any means. No inefficiencies or waste on the actual campuses.
I'm almost positive you are right. That used to be the case for sure. With the recent budget cuts LAUSD has cut their administrative building staff and bureaucrats by more than half. Also the local mini-district offices have been cut by half. Hopefully it will be better. I know that also there are sometimes these outside consulting firms that come in to help make sure special needs students get all the help they need. That's where a lot of waste comes from. Teachers are capable and probably better at doing that job than an outside consulting firm.
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- California lawmakers failed to reach agreement on how to eliminate a $42 billion budget shortfall as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger prepares to shut down hundreds of public works projects and fire thousands of state workers. Senate President Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat, plans to lock lawmakers in the capitol unless they pass a $40 billion package of tax increases, spending cuts and bond sales today. The bills, backed by the Republican governor and by Democrats, remain one Republican vote short. “We are dealing with a catastrophe of unbelievable proportions,” said Senator Alan Lowenthal, a Democrat from Long Beach. “We cannot deny it any longer.” California, a state that would rank as the world’s eighth largest economy, is close to running out of cash because its tax collections have fallen amid the U.S. recession. It has already stopped paying income tax refunds and next month may be forced to pay bills with IOUs for the second time since the Great Depression unless a new budget is agreed. The budget proposal would raise the state sales-tax rate to 8.25 percent from 7.25 percent; boost vehicle license fees to 1.15 percent from 0.65 percent of the value of an automobile; add 12 cents to the per-gallon gasoline tax; reduce the dependant-care tax credit to $100 from $300 and impose a surcharge on income taxes of up to 5 percent. Combined, the measures would raise taxes and fees by $14 billion, cut spending $16 billion and add $10 billion to the state’s debt. Another $2 billion in reserves would be created from funds moved on balance sheets. ‘Bring a Toothbrush’ Steinberg said he will put the tax increases up for a vote at 10 a.m. in Sacramento. If the measure doesn’t pass, he said he will lock senators in the capitol until an agreement is reached. “Bring a toothbrush,” he said in a speech on the Senate floor late yesterday. Lawmakers have been unable to agree on tax increases and spending cuts in four months of talks while economic conditions worsened. The state’s looming cash shortage and political stalemate has unnerved Wall Street. Standard & Poor’s cut the rating on $46 billion of California’s bonds to A from A+, giving it the lowest credit rating of any U.S. state. California is one of just three U.S. states that requires more than a majority to pass a budget. That provision has empowered the Republicans, who hold enough power to block the two-thirds vote needed for passage. Republican lawmakers said higher taxes would hurt an already reeling economy. Spending Beyond Means “Our state has been spending beyond its means for many years now,” said Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, an Orange County Republican. “We’re asking the taxpayers of California for too much of their own money to cover over a problem of our own making.” Without a new budget in place, Schwarzenegger will notify 20,000 state employees today that they could lose their jobs, a step he put off taking last week as a deal seemed imminent. Tomorrow he will shut down $3.8 billion of public works projects, including many already under construction, because the state doesn’t have enough money left to pay for them. That could jeopardize 32,000 jobs, Will Kempton, state director of transportation, said at a hearing today. The cost of mothballing those projects, for example covering trenches and holes already dug in roadways, would mean about $300 million of taxpayers’ money “will be flushed down the toilet,” he said.
The lawmakers are making it worse by not agreeing on a plan. That is especially true if there are going to be some kind of taxes involved in closing the budget gap. If goes another month without an agreement, that's a months worth of taxes that won't go towards closing the gap. Meanwhile the expenditures keep going up, so the gap keeps growing.
