Emphasis on Community

For ten years, Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS) has advocated on behalf of our local public schools. Not coincidentally, during that time our schools suffered a steady onslaught from the State of California in the form of draconian and withering budget cuts to education.

CEPS’s focus has always been trained on protecting our excellent local schools, but it is no mistake that the first word in our name is “community”. The excellence of our local public schools is felt in every corner of our diverse community, and it takes extraordinary vigilance on the part of every community member to hold together the strained fabric of our high quality public schools.

Those of us who have a history of advocating for public education know that California’s public education finance system leaves districts painfully dependent on Sacramento. We also know that our local schools excel at levels far above state and county averages. In part because of superb teaching and academically rigorous programs, but also in part because of innovative and extremely active community participation, which has not been content to allow the quality of our local schools to whither under relentless State funding raids.

TWO NEW COMMUNITY EFFORTS

The Save Our Schools Campaign (SOS) sprang into action shortly after the Santa Monica Malibu Board of Education was forced to respond to State budget cuts to SMMUSD by making $7.1 million dollars of cuts for the 2010-2011 school year. This is after cuts of $4.5 million for 2009-2010 and an additional $2 million dollars of furloughs, shorting the school year in both of those years. These cuts will have significant impacts in our schools, increasing class sizes, closing libraries, eliminating music education and increasing counselor ratios.

The Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation, SMMUSD’s district-wide fundraising organization immediately partnered with concerned parents and community members to launch Save Our Schools, a private fundraising campaign to raise as much money as possible to fund some of those cuts and restore class sizes and programs.

The response to SOS has been tremendous, with individuals and businesses from across our district rallying to support this effort. To date, Save Our Schools has raised more than $1 million dollars, with the goal to raise $300,000 more before its August 15th deadline. This will enable 16 of the 60 eliminated positions to be restored, making a significant contribution to relieving class sizes, keeping libraries open, restoring elementary music and saving teacher jobs for the 2010 – 2011 school year.

Within a month of the SOS launch, news came from the City of Santa Monica about a proposed Transactions and Use Tax to go on to November’s ballot. This measure, if passed in November would bring much-needed funds to City coffers to address their structural deficit, also caused by State funding cuts. New proceeds generated by this measure would ultimately benefit all essential city services, and it is exciting for veteran education advocates to hear public education mentioned among those services.

Education advocates and SMMUSD voters have strongly felt that strong schools are vital to strong communities. One can’t flourish if the other withers. And a community in which all of its essential city services are strong and healthy, becomes stronger than the sum of its parts.

The education community is eager to join with City leaders, not only to help pass this much-needed measure, but for years to come. The education community has much to offer and looks forward to continuing to develop a robust and productive collaboration with our City, Police and Fire departments, businesses and neighborhood groups.

Open Letter to Santa Monica City Council and City Manager Expressing CEPS's Support for the City's Transaction Use Tax

July 13, 2010

Mayor Bobby Shriver

Mayor Pro Tem Pam O’Connor

Councilmember Richard Bloom

Councilmember Gleam Davis

Councilmember Bob Holbrook

Councilmember Kevin KcKeown

Councilmember Terry O’Day

City Manager Rod Gould

Greetings,

I am writing on behalf of Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS) regarding the proposed Transactions Use Tax item #8 – B on tonight’s agenda.

As you know, Community for Excellent Public Schools has advocated on behalf of preserving and protecting the excellence of our local public schools for more than a decade.  The impetus for CEPS’ initial advocacy was a similar State budget meltdown which threatened draconian cuts.

CEPS has always held the firm conviction that excellence in our local public schools relied on stable, predictable, ongoing local revenues that were not tied to the State of California’s fiscal health. 

Our group has operated with the knowledge that strong schools support a strong community, and that the relative health of each greatly impacts the other.  As such, the strength of our advocacy has relied on the diversity of our membership, and we have had many robust and healthy discussions around our CEPS meeting table with members from all ends of the political spectrum offering divergent points of view.  However, the focus remained stalwart, as all worked together to help protect the gem that are still our local public schools.

That background influenced our July 9^th CEPS Steering Committee meeting at which we discussed, and unanimously affirmed our support for the City’s Transactions Use Tax and companion Advisory Measure. 

We feel that these paired measures are forward-thinking and represent an extremely effective method of providing greatly-needed increased revenues for all essential City services.  In addition, these measures help advance a closely-held CEPS belief that partnership and collaboration will create new resources for all. 

CEPS is delighted to support these measures.  In addition, we look forward to working with the campaign committee to help pass them.

CEPS embraces this new collaboration, and will work to carry it forward into the future.  We look forward to creating new and increasingly productive partnerships between the education community and all of our city partners – the business community, police, fire, city workers, and community groups.  Together, I know we can create new opportunities, new revenue sources and ongoing excellence.

The education community is a strong partner and a good ally.  We are eager to get to work with you on this new measure, and continue that creative work well into the future.

Thank you,

Rebecca Kennerly

Chair, Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS)

COMMUNITIES RALLY TO SAVE OUR SCHOOLS

 

“OPEN DOORS: SAVE OUR SCHOOLS” VIDEO Santa Monica -Malibu parents and renowned actors, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan speak out on behalf of SMMUSD students. In the three short weeks that Save Our Schools has been in existence, a team of determined volunteers led by independent filmmaker Varda Hardy, conceived, produced and completed this film.  

“Save Our Schools”, the Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation led emergency fundraising effort to raise as much money as possible to lower class sizes, save teacher and staff jobs, and protect music, library and counseling programs in Santa Monica and Malibu schools for the next school year announces new partnerships as it enters its third week.

“Thanks to the incredible outpouring of support and volunteer efforts for Save Our Schools, we’re nearly half-way to restoring class sizes in 1^st grade district wide for next year,” says Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation Executive Director, Linda Gross. 

SANTA MONICA FOURTH OF JULY PARADE

The Save Our Schools effort will be represented at the Santa Monica Fourth of July Parade with a Save Our Schools float and more than a hundred education activists marching.  SOS volunteers are crafting a life preserver theme for the effort and hope to pass out Save Our Schools materials and collect donations during the parade.  

SAVE OUR SCHOOLS AT THE SANTA MONICA FARMERS MARKET AND OTHER LOCAL BUSINESSES

Look for Save our Schools on Wednesdays at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, at Broadway and the 3^rd Street Promenade.  In addition, Spruzzo Restaurant and Bar and the Sunset Restaurant and Beach Bar in Malibu, will contribute 10% of purchases to Save Our Schools.  Rosti Tuscan Kitchen in Santa Monica will contribute 15% of purchases made on July 6^th, 20^th and August 10^th to Save Our Schools.

FUNDRAISING PROGRESS

Despite school being out for the summer, more than 150 volunteers are working on the Save Our Schools effort, and nearly 500 individual contributions been received to date.  Contributions are earmarked for one of three “buckets”; to lower elementary class size, lower secondary class size and hire back counselors, or to restore music and library programs.  To date, more than $400,000 has been raised, representing 45% of funds needed to reduce 1^st grade class sizes from 27:1 to 23:1, 16% of funds needed to restore the elementary music program, 13% of funds needed to keep elementary libraries open, 21% to hire back middle and high school counselors, and 3% of funds needed to lower class sizes in grades 6-12.

 

 Access: http://savesantamonicamalibuschools.org/SOSevents.html for ongoing updates and details about Save Our Schools’ generous community partners, and grass-roots events, such as an upcoming multi-family yard sale on July 24^th and bake sales throughout Malibu.

SAVE OUR SCHOOLS Campaign on KCRW's Which Way LA?

Listen today to the remarkable story about Save Our Schools on KCRW's show, Which Way LA? with Warren Olney, and produced by the remarkable Frances Anderton.

This story not only talks about how the burden of funding core academic programs in California's public schools is being shifted to local communities, but also shines a bright light on the State's failure to provide adequate public education up and down the Golden State.

Listen today -- and then DONATE to the Save Our Schools Campaign!  Remember, we only have until August 15th to make a difference in time for September.

LEARN MORE about the Save Our Schools Campaign, including how close the campaign is to restoring lower class sizes at a grade level or library, music and counseling programs.

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MON JUN 28, 2010

Teacher layoffs, library closings and elimination of music and other programs have driven parents into the streets, along with their children, to raise money for education. Will private fund-raising be a band-aid in Santa Monica or business as usual for public schools?

Private Sector Steps in to Save Our Schools (7:06PM)

After a school-funding measure barely failed to get the two-thirds required vote last month, the Santa Monica-Malibu School Board cut $7.1 million, eliminated 65 teaching jobs and closed libraries in elementary schools. This weekend, parents and kids set up a lemonade stand on Main Street as part of SOS — the Save Our Schools Campaign.

Guests:

• Linda Gross: Executive Director, Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation
• Tim Shaw: President, Empower/Excel
• Jack O'Connell: Superintendent of Public Instruction, State of California

SAVE OUR SCHOOLS Campaign on NPR

The Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation's 60-day emergency fundraising effort to help protect class sizes, restore teachers and programs has gone national!  Listen to the story about it on NPR -- and then DONATE now.

SAVE OUR SCHOOLS on National Public Radio

Teacher Tenure -- Is Colorado moving in the right direction? Or closer to Arizona?

California didn't qualify for Race to the Top funds, in part because of not linking teacher job assessments to student success.  Colorado took bold steps to do just that, and as a result appears poised to be first in line to receive these funds. 

A good move?  Here is Saturday's AP story Colorado Grading Teachers

In bold move, Colorado alters teacher tenure rules

By COLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press Writer Colleen Slevin, Associated Press Writer Sat Jun 12, 10:58 pm ET

 

DENVER – Colorado is changing the rules for how teachers earn and keep the sweeping job protections known as tenure, linking student performance to job security despite outcry from teacher unions that have steadfastly defended the system for decades.

Many education reform advocates consider tenure to be one of the biggest obstacles to improving America's schools because it makes removing mediocre or even incompetent teachers difficult.
Colorado's legislature changed tenure rules despite opposition from the state's largest teacher's union, a longtime ally of majority Democrats. Gov. Bill Ritter, also a Democrat, signed the bill into law last month.

It requires teachers to be evaluated annually, with at least half of their rating based on whether their students progressed during the school year. Beginning teachers will have to show they've boosted student achievement for three straight years to earn tenure.

Teachers could lose tenure if their students don't show progress for two consecutive years. Under the old system, teachers simply had to work for three years to gain tenure, the typical wait around the country.

After the bill survived a filibuster attempt and passed a key House vote, Democratic Rep. Nancy Todd, a 25-year teacher who opposed the measure, broke into tears.

"I don't question your motives," an emotional Todd said to the bill's proponents. "But I do want you to hear my heart because my heart is speaking for over 40,000 teachers in the state of Colorado who have been given the message that it is all up to them."

While other states have tried to modify tenure, Colorado's law was the boldest education reform in recent memory, according to Kate Walsh, the president of the Washington-based National Council on Teacher Quality, which promotes changing the way teachers are recruited and retained, including holding tenured teachers accountable with annual reviews.
Walsh thinks Colorado is now at the head of the pack in the second round of the Obama administration's Race to the Top competition, a $4.35 billion pot of stimulus money designed to prod just such changes.

"If I was a betting woman, I would absolutely put Colorado in first place," she said.

Teachers won't be at risk of losing tenure until 2015 because lawmakers slowed down the process under political pressure from the teachers' union. Teachers can appeal dismissal all the way to the state Supreme Court, and school districts have the burden of proving why they should be terminated.
Every state but Wisconsin has some form of tenure. The protections were intended to protect teachers from being fired because of their politics, religion or other arbitrary reasons. But Patrick McGuinn, a political science professor at Drew University who has studied tenure, said they have evolved into virtual employment guarantees.

On average, school districts across the country dismiss 2.1 percent of teachers annually, generally for bad conduct rather than performance.

Colorado's measure is a tribute to the tenacity of freshman Democratic state Sen. Michael Johnston, a former Teach for America teacher, principal and Obama education adviser.

The 35-year-old Harvard- and Yale-trained lawyer was appointed to represent a largely minority Denver district that has seen an influx of more white residents because of redevelopment of the city's former airport. He successfully fought changes to the bill that would have eased expectations for teachers with traditionally low performing students.

"What we're saying is that it matters that every one of those kids will get across the finish line," Johnston said.

Although various states have responded to the lure of federal money by moving to tie teacher evaluations to student performance, no other state specifically changed its tenure laws as Colorado did.

In Louisiana, GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal signed a bill partially grading teachers on student test scores in up to 27 school districts. Tenured teachers would face a revocation of tenure hearing if they repeatedly fail under the law, which was opposed by teachers unions.

A push to eliminate tenure for all new teachers and make it easier to fire teachers in Florida passed the Legislature this year but was vetoed by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who is now running for the U.S. Senate as an independent.

Past efforts to change tenure have caused problems for both parties.
In Georgia, Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes lost the support of the teachers' union — and later his office — after pushing to get rid of tenure for new hires in 2000.
 

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tangled with teachers and lost after calling a special election to change tenure rules in 2005. The teachers' union raised dues and amassed $50 million to fight the proposal.

Many teachers and some education experts argue that tenure reform is unnecessary.

Margaret Bobb, an earth science teacher at Denver's East High School, said bad teachers are often quietly coached out of their jobs by administrators, avoiding the protracted tenure dismissal process.

She contends tenure is still needed to prevent good teachers from being dismissed for running afoul of administrators and to prevent experienced — and more expensive — teachers from being let go by cash-strapped districts.

"Education is not just you and your class. It's not an individual activity. If you're doing your best, it's a system you're a part of," Bobb said.
_____
Associated Press writers Randall Chase in Dover, Del., Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, La. and Erik Schelzig in Nashville, Tenn. contributed to this report.

Measure A Failed -- NOW WHAT?

Seven years ago, the last time the State of California made sweeping and, seemingly arbitrary cuts to education funding, SMMUSD participated in "FROM FIRST TO WORST", a devastating documentary detailing the decline of California's public education system in the wake of Proposition 13 and its draconian 2/3 supermajority requirement for any funding measures.

2003 marked a terrifying time for our Santa Monica Malibu students, who faced sharp declines in the quality of their classroom experience -- class size increases, program elimination, library closures, reductions in nursing and counselor services.  A local funding measure in early 2003 failed and a "Hail Mary" measure was run in June, just weeks before the deadline for revenue it might produce to save teacher jobs.  At that time more than 100 jobs were on the line.  The June measure passed by the slimmest margin imaginable.  It took a herculean effort to pass Measure S in 2003, but in the end, it did pass.

Now, in 2010, we face the same crisis.  State funding for SMMUSD schools has dropped $10 million per year for each of the last three years.  This time, the SMMUSD administration has been in much better financial condition, and was able to weather the storm with $4.5 million dollars in cuts last year, and an additional $7.1 million dollars this year.  But the SMMUSD reserves will be exhausted by the end of the 2010-2011 school year, forcing an ADDITIONAL $5 - $6 million dollars of cuts on top of the cuts already implemented.

This year's cuts include dramatically increase class sizes and decrease services to students -- counseling, libraries, security, music, sports.

EMERGENCY SAVE OUR SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN

NO "HAIL MARY" CAMPAIGN FOR 2010 - 2011

Please make a generous contribution to the Education Foundation's Save our Schools Campaign TODAY.  Contributions of $1,000 or more will go a long way towards retaining the quality educators who teach in our schools now.

And then, tomorrow, please know, you will be called on again, to help with the next campaign to help preserve and protect the quality education that our Santa Monica Malibu students receive now -- and deserve to receive far into the future.