Riverside County Education Update, April 2011

Assembly Bill 114
Some of the Worst Political Actions to Affect Public Education Policy in a Generation

Assembly Bill 114, signed by Governor Brown on June 30 as part of his commitment to deliver a "balanced," on-time state budget, is based on a number of exceedingly optimistic revenue assumptions. While this optimism has become status quo in recent state budgets, our state leaders have always upheld the financial standards and criteria for California's public schools adopted by the State Board of Education in forecasting their revenues conservatively rather than optimistically. Now, under the provisions of AB 114, the state has literally compelled school districts to ignore those standards when projecting their revenues for this new school year. (AB 114:,"For the 2011-12 fiscal year, notwithstanding any of the standards and criteria adopted by the state board [of education] . . . each school district budget shall project the same level of revenue . . . as it received in the 2010-11 fiscal year.")

Determining staffing and program needs has always been left to the decisions of local school districts. Now the state has unilaterally mandated the staffing and program levels of every school district in the state. AB 114 requires school districts to maintain the same level of employee staffing and programs in the 2011-2012 school year as they had in 2010-2011 - regardless of whether or not they need the same level. (AB 114: "For the 2011-12 fiscal year . . . each school district budget shall . . . maintain staffing and program levels commensurate with that level [2010-2011].")

The requirement for school districts to maintain a balanced budget over a 36-month period was put in place by the California Legislature years ago following the financial collapse of school districts that failed to follow responsible, long-term financial management practices. This has helped keep untold numbers of school districts from going under. Now the state has deliberately required them to suspend this critical practice. (AB 114: "For the 2011-12 fiscal year, the school district shall not be required to demonstrate that it is able to meet its financial obligations for the two subsequent fiscal years.")

This unconscionable legislation is intentionally designed to thwart the ability of every school district in the state to follow sound accounting practices and prudent budgeting principles in preparing for or managing mid-year state budget cuts in public education funding. To add insult to injury, the Governor and Legislature, through AB 114, have constrained the state's 58 county superintendents from exercising their existing fiduciary responsibility to provide financial oversight and guidance to the state's 900 plus school districts (AB 114: " . . . the county superintendent, as a condition on approval of a school district budget, shall not require a school district to project a lower [realistic] level of revenue . . . than it received in the 2010-11 fiscal year nor require the school district to demonstrate that it is able to meet its financial obligations [pay its bills] for the two subsequent fiscal years"). History has repeatedly demonstrated the importance of that oversight and guidance role performed on behalf of the public by county superintendents. Now the state is intentionally preventing county superintendents from fulfilling this responsibility of public trust.

From these actions, it is clear that many in Sacramento want to force California's public school system into the same financial disarray the state budget is in - an intolerable objective. As one of the state's foremost school finance experts noted recently, "If all districts followed the orders in this budget, many of them would need emergency apportionments (bailout loans) from the state within 18 months." The last thing California needs right now is more local school districts becoming fiscally insolvent as a result of the state usurping local control.

Regards,

signature
Kenneth M. Young
Riverside County Superintendent of Schools

Office of the Public Information Officer, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools
3939 13th Street
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 826-6642
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July, 2011



	Assembly Bill 114 Some of the Worst Political Actions to Affect Public Education Policy in a Generation Assembly Bill 114, signed by Governor Brown on June 30 as part of his commitment to deliver a "balanced," on-time state budget, is based on a number of exceedingly optimistic revenue assumptions. While this optimism has become status quo in recent state budgets, our state leaders have always upheld the financial standards and criteria for California's public schools adopted by the State Board of Education in forecasting their revenues conservatively rather than optimistically. Now, under the provisions of AB 114, the state has literally compelled school districts to ignore those standards when projecting their revenues for this new school year. (AB 114:,"For the 2011-12 fiscal year, notwithstanding any of the standards and criteria adopted by the state board [of education] . . . each school district budget shall project the same level of revenue . . . as it received in the 2010-11 fiscal year.") Determining staffing and program needs has always been left to the decisions of local school districts. Now the state has unilaterally mandated the staffing and program levels of every school district in the state. AB 114 requires school districts to maintain the same level of employee staffing and programs in the 2011-2012 school year as they had in 2010-2011 - regardless of whether or not they need the same level. (AB 114: "For the 2011-12 fiscal year . . . each school district budget shall . . . maintain staffing and program levels commensurate with that level [2010-2011].") The requirement for school districts to maintain a balanced budget over a 36-month period was put in place by the California Legislature years ago following the financial collapse of school districts that failed to follow responsible, long-term financial management practices. This has helped keep untold numbers of school districts from going under. Now the state has deliberately required them to suspend this critical practice. (AB 114: "For the 2011-12 fiscal year, the school district shall not be required to demonstrate that it is able to meet its financial obligations for the two subsequent fiscal years.") This unconscionable legislation is intentionally designed to thwart the ability of every school district in the state to follow sound accounting practices and prudent budgeting principles in preparing for or managing mid-year state budget cuts in public education funding. To add insult to injury, the Governor and Legislature, through AB 114, have constrained the state's 58 county superintendents from exercising their existing fiduciary responsibility to provide financial oversight and guidance to the state's 900 plus school districts (AB 114: " . . . the county superintendent, as a condition on approval of a school district budget, shall not require a school district to project a lower [realistic] level of revenue . . . than it received in the 2010-11 fiscal year nor require the school district to demonstrate that it is able to meet its financial obligations [pay its bills] for the two subsequent fiscal years"). History has repeatedly demonstrated the importance of that oversight and guidance role performed on behalf of the public by county superintendents. Now the state is intentionally preventing county superintendents from fulfilling this responsibility of public trust. From these actions, it is clear that many in Sacramento want to force California's public school system into the same financial disarray the state budget is in - an intolerable objective. As one of the state's foremost school finance experts noted recently, "If all districts followed the orders in this budget, many of them would need emergency apportionments (bailout loans) from the state within 18 months." The last thing California needs right now is more local school districts becoming fiscally insolvent as a result of the state usurping local control. Regards, Kenneth M. Young Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Office of the Public Information Officer, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools 3939 13th Street Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 826-6642 Subscribe Read our Privacy Policy