Superintendent's Message

Kenneth M. Young, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools

"Keep students in school until they graduate, prepare them for college should they choose to attend, and provide them with the trade and technical skills they will need to succeed in the work force”

Focus on Outcomes
As I meet with parents, students, education, business and community leaders  (stakeholders) across Riverside County, a common theme emerges from our conversations — outcomes; keep students in school until they graduate, prepare them for college should they choose to attend, and provide them with the trade and technical skills they will need to succeed in the work force. While our education community is largely focused on meeting state and federal compliance requirements, our stakeholders are most concerned about preparing students for the real world that lies ahead.

There were approximately 427,000 K-12 students attending school in Riverside County last school year and approximately 11,900 preschoolers. Roughly 416,000 of those K-12 students received their education through our 23 local school districts and about 9,800 preschoolers were served at the local level as well. Approximately 9,100 of those K-12 students and 2,100 of the preschoolers received their education through special programs operated by the Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE). RCOE also provided Career Technical Education and Regional Occupational Program classes to over 33,000 high school students in grades 9-12 last year across the county.

Based on what our stakeholders are telling us is most important to them about educational outcomes, it is noteworthy that more than 28,314 students graduated from high school in Riverside County last year. Riverside County’s graduation rate is ranked 7th in California based on counties with 50,000 or more students. High schools across the county held graduation ceremonies in a variety of venues during the months of May and June with a total of more than 100,000 people attending. Our goal for Riverside County is to have the highest graduation rate in the state. Additionally, RCOE issued more than 14,500 CTE Certificates of Completion last year, certifying students’ education in the area of trade and technical skills needed for the work force.

In this issue of our semi-annual Report to the Community, we are focusing on Come Back Kids, a program that brings high school dropouts back to school and helps them earn their diplomas; AVID, a tremendously successful program that helps thousands of our students prepare for college; and finally, the brand new Summer Work Experience Program that provided 475 young people with a taste of real employment this summer and pumped over $1.3 million into the local economy. And if you would like to see test scores, statistics and demographics about our Riverside County students, they are all available at our Website, www.rcoe.us or the state Website www.cde.ca.gov.

State Education Budget
Since the state recently adopted legislation to “fix” the ongoing state budget deficit, I would like to share some concerns about the impact of that action on public education in our county.

After losing more than $9 billion dollars in state funding over the past 18 months, California’s K-12 public education system is bracing for an additional $6 billion in state funding cuts. This includes delaying billions of dollars in payments to school districts for several months. In addition to these cuts, the budget fix package included two components that weaken the financial stability of our public schools. The first will limit financial oversight of school districts, essentially saying to school boards and communities that it is OK to ignore the long-range financial impacts of decisions by spending one-time money for ongoing purposes without having a plan for how the district will pay for those ongoing costs in the future.

The second component will significantly reduce the amount of money school districts are required to set aside for financial emergencies, such as losses in funding. (School district reserves are already far below the level most public agencies set aside for financial emergencies.)

Ironically, these changes come at the very time in our state’s history when local school districts need the added support of fiscal oversight and financial reserves the most. School districts and county offices of education are opposed to these changes to weaken our school financial system. They are intended to hide from the public, the legislature, and state oversight agencies the financial risk that school districts will be facing over the next few years.

To receive the Superintendent’s E-Bulletin, visit www.rcoe.us.
Watch for the Superintendent's “Focus on Education” on Channel 96 Charter Communications.