XPost: dc.urban-planning, wa.politics   
   From: impeach_obama@yahoo.com   
      
   Orange County school districts are working to lower their   
   financial obligations next year by as much as $158 million, a   
   cost-cutting ax expected to fall largely on employee salaries   
   and benefits after years of class-size increases and program   
   cuts.   
      
   Eighteen of the county's 28 school districts have reported   
   needing to rein in costs in 2013-14, even after California   
   voters approved Proposition 30, which guaranteed additional   
   funding for schools. Prop. 30 will hold school funding levels   
   steady, taking off the table even deeper spending cuts Gov.   
   Jerry Brown had previously threatened.   
      
   "The problem is that with Prop. 30, a lot of people are thinking   
   that schools are in great shape," said Orange County schools   
   Superintendent Al Mijares. "What Prop. 30 did was to prevent   
   further cuts."   
      
   Even with Prop. 30's passage, O.C. school districts reported   
   they expect to spend as much as $65 million less in 2013-14 than   
   the $4.3 billion they're on target to spend this year.   
      
   And districts have projected the cost-cutting must go deeper. In   
   December, districts reported needing to slice $158 million from   
   their 2013-14 financial obligations, as they deal with expiring   
   employee pay cuts and rising operational costs, including higher   
   utility bills and swelling health insurance premiums.   
      
   School districts, though, say they expect their preliminary   
   spending estimates to change in the coming months. Although all   
   districts were required to file an initial spending plan with   
   the county on Dec. 15, at least one district – Garden Grove   
   Unified – reported its spending estimates were based on the   
   assumption Prop. 30 would fail at the ballot box, triggering   
   deep funding losses.   
      
   Garden Grove, which had projected the biggest spending cuts of   
   any O.C. district, will issue revised figures next month, said   
   spokesman Alan Trudell.   
      
   YEARS OF PAY CUTS   
      
   Cuts to student programs and services are for the most part not   
   being considered for next year; instead, many districts are   
   pursuing negotiations with their labor unions to reduce pay and   
   benefits, often for the second or third consecutive year.   
      
   Two O.C. districts – La Habra City and Fountain Valley – already   
   have agreed to cut five days off the 2013-14 school year,   
   continuing the shortened 175-day student calendar they and six   
   other districts implemented for 2012-13. The mandatory furlough   
   days save the district money by reducing employee pay.   
      
   Others have reported they're still negotiating for worker   
   concessions, including shorter school years and shifting more   
   health insurance costs to employees.   
   "Everyone has had to feel the pain, and I have to give a lot of   
   credit to employees for realizing we're in an emergency   
   situation," Mijares said. "I know that doing it time and again   
   does become frustrating, and I hope that we get to the point at   
   the state level where it can be fixed."   
      
   No O.C. districts have indicated they're planning to notify   
   permanent employees of possible job losses in 2013-14. About 638   
   temporary employees working on one-year contracts are expected   
   to receive non-renewal warnings, but most of them typically are   
   rehired each year.   
      
   In December, 10 O.C. school districts filed preliminary spending   
   plans with the county indicating they might not be able to meet   
   their financial obligations over the next two years. A year ago,   
   in December 2011, nine districts reported similar financial   
   jeopardy.   
      
   These tallies are drawn from Register surveys of the county's 28   
   school districts, which filed preliminary 2013-14 spending plans   
   in December.   
      
   PAY RAISES CONTINUE   
      
   For teachers and other school workers who take salary   
   reductions, their lost wages are partially offset by automatic   
   annual step-and-column raises that boost pay for additional   
   years of service and advanced degrees. The raises cost districts   
   millions of additional dollars each year, and most districts   
   have continued to award them.   
      
   This year, just two O.C. districts – Placentia-Yorba Linda   
   Unified and Capistrano Unified – delayed awarding teachers step-   
   and-column raises, by eight months and six months, respectively.   
      
   Step-and-column raises typically represent about a 1 to 2   
   percent annual increase in a district's payroll costs.   
      
   School officials say step-and-column raises are a small but   
   important way to recognize teachers and other workers for their   
   continued years of service to the district and for pursuing   
   advanced degrees and credentials.   
      
   That monetary recognition is particularly critical as teachers   
   grapple with increased class sizes and fewer support staff,   
   Mijares said.   
      
   In Orange County, only five school districts have a program in   
   primary grades that caps the number of students at 25 or fewer.   
   Five years ago, a 20-to-1 student-teacher ratio was common in   
   first- through third-grade classrooms across the state.   
      
   Among O.C. middle schools, caps on average class sizes have   
   soared to as high as 35.9 in Saddleback Valley Unified and 36 to   
   39 in core academic subjects in Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified.   
   The smallest middle-school class sizes are in La Habra City,   
   with an average of 30 students each.   
      
   Among O.C. high schools, caps on average class sizes have grown   
   as high as 38 in Brea-Olinda Unified and 36 to 39 in core   
   academic subjects in Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified. The smallest   
   high school class sizes are in Fullerton Joint Union High, with   
   a 28.5-student average.   
      
   CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM   
      
   Financial uncertainty for school districts continues to loom,   
   although experts are cautiously optimistic the outlook might   
   improve in the coming months.   
      
   In January, Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled a state budget plan that   
   proposes to give schools an estimated 1.7 percent increase in   
   their per-student funding for 2013-14.   
      
   And the state's revenues for January were up $4.3 billion above   
   the governor's estimates, a figure that school finance experts   
   say could bode well for school funding if the trend holds up.   
      
   "It signals that California may be entering an era where we can   
   govern outside of crisis," State Controller John Chiang said in   
   a statement Feb. 8.   
      
   "However, given our state's troubled history with boom-or-bust   
   revenue cycles, this good news must be tempered with increased   
   fiscal discipline in how we interpret and budget January's   
   collections."   
      
   Chiang cautioned that the state's January windfall might be a   
   one-time bump triggered by high-income taxpayers who declared   
   their income and dividends to avoid higher 2013 tax rates.   
      
   School districts will file an updated preliminary spending plan   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)