Celebrate a Year of Advocacy and Partnership

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Y + YY

A Decade of Advocacy and Bold Partnerships Help Strengthen City and Schools

November 2, 2011 marks the one-year anniversary of the passage of the groundbreaking Santa Monica Propositions Y + YY.  It also provides the opportunity to recognize and honor the unique partnership that these measures represent between the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District and the City of Santa Monica.

Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS), a Santa Monica-based, all-volunteer, grass-roots political action committee, has advocated for local funding for local public schools for over a decade.  Since the beginning, CEPS has bridged political divides, bringing together advocates from divergent groups and philosophies, all committed to protecting local public schools.

In California, public schools rely on the State for most of their funding, yet for the past decade, Sacramento has been the source of deep and relentless cuts, both to our local public schools and to schools up and down the state.  In addition, early childhood education, community and Cal State colleges, and even our incredible UC system have all sustained devastating cuts.  Public education’s outlook in our once-Golden State is dire.

Nearly a decade ago, CEPS argued that strong local public schools provide tangible and demonstrable financial benefits to their cities and that inadequate funding from the State was not acceptable.  We called for “long-term, predictable, ongoing support from the City of Santa Monica for its local public schools”.

In 2003, CEPS proposed a measure to amend the Charter of the City of Santa Monica to provide ongoing direct contributions from the City to SMMUSD schools.  After CEPS collected the 15,000 signatures to qualify that measure for the ballot, the City and SMMUSD crafted a direct Master Facilities Use Agreement, which is still in effect and requires renewal in early 2012. 

Taking CEPS’s advocacy to a statewide level, in 2005, CEPS strategically partnered with California’s State PTA to organize “Caravan for Kids”, comprising rallies and press conferences across the state, and culminating in a large rally on the Capitol steps in Sacramento.

Education funding crises have pummeled public schools continually for the past decade but time and again our community pulled together to respond. CEPS and many community groups joined forces to work on multiple measures to provide local funding directly to classrooms.  A coalition of committed volunteers from multiple groups, including CEPS, PTAs, Santa Monicans for Renters Rights, the Chamber of Commerce, teachers, school staff, administrators, City leaders and many more worked extraordinarily hard on the campaigns. Voters, most of whom did not have school-aged children, demonstrated their commitment to strong public schools by passing these measures and voting to tax themselves to fill funding gaps caused by State cuts. 

In 2010, in the middle of one of the worst recessions in recent history, the City of Santa Monica’s City Manager, Rod Gould, proposed a new municipal tax, to shore up funding for local services and public schools. The City Council voted to put it on the ballot, along with a companion advisory measure to describe the sharing of the funds.  A diverse coalition, drawing on the strength of the education community, again coalesced to successfully campaign for the two unique ballot measures. 

CEPS is deeply appreciative of Mr. Gould’s and the City Council’s commitment to the importance of partnership between the City and the Schools.  We believe that these two unprecedented municipal policies, Y and YY, were the right message for the right community at the right time, and that a decade of advocacy to help protect strong public schools contributed to the success of these propositions.

On the one-year anniversary of these groundbreaking measures and partnership, we pause to look back and reflect on how far we have come as a community and say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who worked so hard to make these accomplishments possible.  And because so much work is left to do, CEPS is also driven to look forward.

As cuts continue to come from Sacramento, CEPS will continue its #1 job; advocating to preserve and protect the quality of our local public schools. In addition, we will continue to advocate in local and state elections to help elect representatives who are aware of and ready to take on the challenges to ensure high quality public education.  And CEPS will become more involved at the State level, since, after all, Sacramento is the place where funding and policy decisions live and die.

Moreover, on this anniversary celebrating the passage of Y and YY, CEPS is excited by the myriad opportunities developing in the wake of the strengthening partnership between our community and our schools.  Santa Monica’s Buy Local campaign is building a strong working relationship between our education and business communities, and the emerging work of the Santa Monica Youth Resource Team brings schools and the community together to provide a continuum of services, outreach, and opportunities to children throughout our community, from cradle to career. 

At its core, education advocacy – for CEPS, for our community leaders, and for every individual – boils down to providing each child the very best opportunity possible to learn.  We are so proud and grateful that our great community is committed to the education of all of its children.  Through true partnership, we all grow stronger. 

Happy Birthday Y + YY.  Many happy returns of the day!

Yours for Excellent Public Schools,

Shari Davis & Rebecca Kennerly

Co-chairs, Community for Excellent Public Schools

On behalf of the CEPS Steering Committee

learn more or contribute at www.excellentpublicschools.org

The Start of a New School Year – and Other New Beginnings

For as long as anyone at CEPS can remember, September has meant the beginning of a new school year with its fresh faces and hopes for the future.  The beginning of this school year brought with it many firsts.  No only did we welcome Superintendent Sandy Lyon to Santa Monica-Malibu and Laurel Fretz as Principal of Santa Monica High School, but we also saw the first August start to a school year – possibly ever.

The start of this 2011 – 2012 school also brings with it another notable milestone, the beginning of Community for Excellent Public Schools second decade.

CEPS helped organize Caravan for Kids, a statewide rally
protesting State budget cuts.

Big birthdays are times for more than celebration.  They are times for reflection, assessment and priority-setting.  CEPS is proud of its accomplishments, which can be appreciated in detail here. 

CEPS was founded a decade ago in response to what was assumed to be a temporary funding shortfall caused by State budget cuts.  Little did we know that those early cuts were simply the opening volley in what would become an unending siege against public education in the State of California.  CEPS had hoped and assumed over the years that with just one more effort to plug the dike, the crisis in our local public schools would be stabilized.  Yet, after each miraculous victory, the State came back with bigger and more painful cuts.  The result, however, of CEPS effort has been significant help in preserving and protecting Santa Monica-Malibu schools, which consistently perform better than state and country schools.

Now, after ten years of effort, CEPS has taken time this past summer to assess and look forward.  At the end of July CEPS published a survey asking the community its views about CEPS work, as well as to share their own priorities about public education issues.  On August 17^th, the CEPS Steering Committee met with its members and community leaders to discuss preliminary findings of this survey and to discuss areas of focus for CEPS to prioritize in the future.

This effort will continue into the fall when we hope to announce our findings at a community event on November 2^nd. This event will celebrate the one year anniversary of the passage of Santa Monica Propositions Y + YY, and the powerful partnership between our SMMUSD cities and schools. Look for event details coming soon. 

PLEASE TAKE CEPS SURVEY TODAY
There is something you can do now to help CEPS look forward.  Please take a moment, if you haven’t done so already, to fill out the CEPS survey.  Your views and opinions are important to us and will help us advocate more effectively to help protect the integrity of public education.  And please send this survey to your friends and ask them to help us plan for the future.

Finally, if you would like to do more, we would love for you to join us as a member.  In this difficult political climate, financial contributions provide critical resources that will allow us to contact and educate voters.

We look forward to hearing from you!

CEPS Co-chairs

Shari Davis & Rebecca Kennerly

info@excellentpublicschools.org

CEPS In the News

Please share your thoughts about public education in the CEPS Survey

PHOTOS BY DAVID HUME KENNERLY, COURTESY OF CEPS

From the statewide event, "Caravan for Kids" in 2005. Created by then-CEPS Executive Board members Rochelle Fanali and Denny Zane and organized by CEPS Steering Committee members, the two-day rally was organized by CEP in partnership with California State PTA, to provide training and facilitation for parent and student groups throughout California.

NEWS, SANTA MONICA, SCHOOL, EDUCATION, SANTA MONICA-MALIBU SCHOOL DISTRICT (SMMUSD)

Local School Advocates Celebrate Years of Work

POSTED AUG. 8, 2011, 7:37:00 AM

HANNAH HEINEMAN / MIRROR CONTRIBUTOR

The Community For Excellent Public Schools (CEPS) has become a key player in K-12 public education in both Santa Monica and Malibu.

Although the roots for the organization were laid in early 1999, the group started meeting regularly in 2001 to discuss and strategize about assisting the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District with communication and seeking revenue sources. CEPS officially became a non-profit volunteer political action committee in 2003 when its members helped the school district solve the financial crisis it was facing at that time.

Some of their goals include promoting a shared community vision for excellence in local public schools, evaluating and pursuing a range of short- and long-term funding measures through state, City, and school district policies and elections, identifying and supporting issues that would support education and public schools, and promoting accountability for high quality public education by public institutions and public officials.

“CEPS has been able to cultivate a culture in our community that makes education a priority in the whole community,” noted Shari Davis, CEPS co-chair. “We are so proud that we have been able to advocate successfully for funding for our school district that now totals $24 million per year from local sources.”

Some of these local sources are a parcel tax with a cost of living adjustment and the Master Facilities Use Agreement between the school district and the city of Santa Monica that began in the 2004 – 2005 academic year. Most recently, CEPS helped with the campaign for Propositions Y and YY that were approved by voters in November 2010. Proposition Y was a half cent City of Santa Monica transaction and use tax and Proposition YY was a companion measure that advises that half the funds generated by Proposition Y can be given to the school district. The school board approved the terms of the agreement in June 2011.

“The proposal of putting Y and YY on the ballot shows how far we’ve come,” Davis pointed out.

Another milestone, according to Davis, was the CEPS participation in the 2005 Caravan for Kids, which included eight press conferences in California’s major media markets and a 2,000-person rally for “Making California Great Again” on the steps of the State Capitol.

“The Caravan for Kids was a real moment for us to do statewide advocacy and partner with the California State PTA,” explained Davis.

Yet another achievement for CEPS was the initiation of the State of Our Schools event in 2006, which was created and organized by CEPS to highlight the achievements of both Santa Monica High School and Malibu High School with presentations in both cities.

In honor of its 10-year anniversary, CEPS is asking community leaders, education advocates, and residents in Santa Monica and Malibu to express their thoughts and concerns about public education through a survey posted on their blog at excellentpublicschools.blogspot.com

Please share your thoughts about public education in the CEPS Survey

Take the CEPS Survey

Please share your thoughts about public education in the CEPS Survey   Dear Public Education Supporter,   At the end of this very tumultuous school year, Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS) would like to thank you for working with us to keep the protection of public education a top community priority.  In addition, we would like to share some important news with you.   California’s historic on-time State Budget passage in June left the future of public education funding filled with uncertainty.  With deep cuts to early childhood and post-secondary education, this budget funded K-12 public schools at the same level as the 2010 – 2011 school year, but ONLY IF $4 billion of revenue increases materialize.  If not, pre-set “triggers” will be activated, potentially prompting mid-year cuts to public education of up to $1.9 billion statewide, leaving SMMUSD with about $3,600,000 less in State funding for 2011-2012.  As a result, SMMUSD would be forced  to dig deeply into its reserves, leaving the outlook for the 2012-13 school year bleak once more.   As we look back over the last year and beyond, we realize how far we’ve come since our inception over a decade ago.  Education advocates have worked hard to inform voters about our excellent public schools and to help shine a light on the critical inadequacy of State funding for education.   A SAMPLING OF CEPS' EFFORTS: In partnership with a broad coalition of community members, CEPS helped pass City of Santa Monica Propositions Y + YY in November 2010, and actively monitored the process by which the City of Santa Monica worked with SMMUSD to craft the new joint use agreement that provides the transfer of revenues to the School District.  CEPS Steering Committee Members Shari Davis and Tom Larmore co-chaired the Yes on Y + YY campaign committee, with many more CEPS members working on the committee to pass the measure.      Result: $5.7 million per year will be generated for our local schools          ($1 million already designated for 2010-11 school year)   CEPS helped pass Measure R in February 2008. Result: $11 million per year generated for our local schools, with senior homeowners exempted CEPS has worked with civic leaders to reinforce the value of maintaining high quality schools and to build toward renewal of the Master Facilities Use Agreement initiated by CEPS in 2004. Result: $8 million per year generated with renewal expected in 2012.   In addition, this school year, CEPS actively participated in the 2010 candidate elections, holding candidate forums and community outreach efforts that informed voters about candidates’ views and record on education issues.  CEPS also partnered with SMMUSD to inform the public about the District’s accomplishments and challenges in the fourth annual “State of Our Schools” Event.   We are proud to announce the return of Shari Davis as Co-Chair of CEPS.  She returns to lead CEPS after an extremely successful and productive two-year term as President of Santa Monica Malibu Council of PTAs.   With the State of California stuck in a daunting and seemingly endless budget crisis, there is no question that education funding is at risk and will remain so for the foreseeable future.    The only true certainty in California’s very unstable public education picture is that our advocacy is needed now more than ever.  CEPS is committed to continuing our work at the local and state levels.      To help us focus our advocacy on issues that matter most to you, please take a moment to let us know your thoughts!  PLEASE COMPLETE THIS BRIEF SURVEY.  It will take five minutes or less and will give us important feedback that will help us set our priorities for the coming year.   Finally, if you haven’t already done so, please renew your membership and consider making an additional financial contribution to CEPS.  Your support makes it possible for Community for Excellent Public Schools to continue its critical advocacy in support of Santa Monica and Malibu’s local public schools.    Thank you for making education a priority in your life and striving toward Excellent Public Schools for all children!   Sincerely,   Shari Davis & Rebecca Soladay Kennerly Co-Chairs, Community for Excellent Public Schools   Keep up on local education issues on the CEPS blog Look for CEPS and "like" us on Facebook

No Budget, No Election, No Future for California's Schools

Join Teachers, Parents and Students for a 

Friday the 13th Rally for a Real Solution

California's Budget News Hit Hard Locally

Santa Monica' incredible resource, the Lifelong Learning Community, has helped inform us about events and issues that impact everyone in our community for many years.  SMLLC is written and edited by the incredible Louise Jaffe, Member of the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees and former CEPS co-Chair, who has graciously allowed this repost.

Lifelong Learning Community News - APRIL 2011


For months now, I’ve been writing, or avoiding writing, about the state budget and related local consequences. Yesterday, Governor Brown announced that negotiations with Republican legislators to hold a special June election have collapsed. This means there will be no opportunity for voters to consider extending existing taxes in a June election. 


Democrats in the Legislature have already approved $12.4 billion in cuts. These include deep cuts to preschool and childcare, and reductions in health and human services that will impact people with disabilities, mental health needs, the blind, seniors, low income families, community organizations, providers and workers who provide supports and services. On top of these cuts, the UC and CSU systems lose $1 billion and the community college system loses $290 million - - this translates into course sections cut and less or no access for students pursuing a college education. Community college student fees will rise from $26 to $36 per unit.


These cuts are staggering and will absolutely impact Californians, especially children, older adults, those who are disabled, the poor, and college students. Yet this is just the beginning. Another $12 billion in cuts now haunts all plans for the immediate future... 


Governor Brown and Democratic legislators are now on their own to try to figure out how to increase revenues to avoid an all-cuts scenario. We the voters, for the moment at least, are largely sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see what comes down and what we can vote on. Those of us responsible for running or governing state-funded agencies – this includes the school board, the college board (I am a trustee at SMC), many non-profits (most non-profits that serve the elderly, the disabled, and the poor rely heavily on state funding) are caught in the middle, trying to make plans for various terrible but as yet not fully known contingencies. It is really a mess and really not good news for lifelong learning in California.


Last week, SMC President/Superintendent Chui Tsang held a town hall forum on the budget. You can read about how the budget crisis is impacting SMC at http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2011/March-2011/03_30_2011_Lean_Times_Ahead_for_SMC_President_Tsang_Warns.html


The city of Santa Monica is more protected from state cuts and more fiscally independent than the school district and the college district. However, Santa Monica has a robust redevelopment agency with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of future projects on the line. As of this writing, redevelopment has not been eliminated and Santa Monica has moved to protect some funding such as that for the new Virginia Avenue Park library. To read about the City’s efforts to protect redevelopment funds, please go to 
http://www.smdp.com/Articles-c-2011-03-14-71477.113116-City-secures-loan-to-fund-redevelopment-projects.html


Anyhow, please follow the state budget situation. It absolutely impacts us and our local primary education institutions and social service agencies.


I retain a smidgeon of hopefulness because after a recent parcel tax for our schools failed to pass, (I’ve already forgotten the letter), Santa Monicans voted in Y and YY. The lesson I take from this is that there is always another opportunity to move forward, as long as we remain diligent and ready to seize the day!