Budget/Taxes Archives - Page 8 of 17

Looming 2013 Issues: School Fundings After Measure E and Prop 30

By David GreenwaldDecember 28, 2012112 comments

Davis will go into the spring, for the first time in a long time, not talking about layoffs or school cuts. That is the good news, but it was a rough ride last year getting to that point.

First, the district last spring renewed their parcel taxes that had been passed under Measure Q and Measure W in 2007 and 2008. However, in so doing, the district did not address roughly $3.5 million in structural deficit caused by a variety of factors, much of which had to do with the state no longer funding COLA (cost of living adjustment or allowance), the state deferring payments to districts, and normal step and column increases.

VANGUARD VIEW: Measure E Passes, But It’s Time To Address Key Issues in Davis

By David GreenwaldNovember 9, 201213 comments

In 2007, 2008, 2011 and now twice in 2012 the voters in Davis have stepped up to support quality education. Some people want to suggest that Measure E was a nailbiter. It wasn’t a nailbiter.

As Richard Harris told me on Wednesday morning, by any reasonable measure, 69% is a landslide. We agree and Richard Harris deserves a tremendous amount of credit for pushing the district to act when they would not have, and seeing it through until the end.

Davis Teachers Go Public with Their Discontent with DTA Leadership

By uptownstudiosNovember 8, 201238 comments

By Bill Storm, Ingrid Salim and Greg Brucker

GUEST COMMENTARY – We go public with this blog the day after California voters have approved Prop. 30, and Davis voters have approved Measure E, both measures being an affirmation of the value citizens place on public education.

Measure E is, in particular, an expression of support from the citizens of Davis who have long acknowledged the unique neglect public education has suffered in California. That they continue to support their public schools with such commitment and sacrifice in the midst of the Great Recession is humbling, and we are grateful to them for their faith in us.

District Reaches Agreement with One Bargaining Unit, DTA Holding Out

By David GreenwaldOctober 17, 201225 comments

The Davis Joint Unified School District and the California School Employees Association have reached a tentative agreement, pending ratification by both parties, on a contingency that could mean the reduction by as much as six days in the 2012-13 school year.

“The District and the California School Employees Association, recognizing the potential impact of the failure of Prop. 30, have ratified” an MOU. “The MOU contains contingency language which would be triggered by Prop. 30’s failure, a graduated scale of concessions based on the scale of lost state revenue, language to restore concessions if money returns to the district, and a plan to implement the concessions.”

DTA President Speaks Out

By David GreenwaldOctober 9, 201246 comments

President Justifies Five Furlough Days Amid Budget Crisis if Prop 30 Fails – In an op-ed in the Enterprise today, Frank Thomsen attempted to explain and defend the position of the Davis Teachers Association, who to this point have resisted efforts by the school district to win concessions in the event that Proposition 30 does not pass.

Mr. Thomsen writes, “The outcomes of Proposition 30 and Measure E will determine whether we even maintain the current precarious fiscal situation we now have or whether we will face a future of immediate and ongoing school cuts that is almost too bleak to contemplate.”

Sunday Commentary: DTA Leadership Needs to Step Up to Save Our Schools

By David GreenwaldOctober 7, 201233 comments

The school district continues to make no apparent progress toward salary concessions, as the board seeks to create a contingency should Proposition 30 be defeated this November. The loss of Proposition 30 would result in roughly $3.7 million dollars in funding lost to the school district midyear.

On Thursday, the president of CSEA (California School Employees Association), which represents support staff, announced that their membership had ratified a tentative agreement with the district by a wide margin.

Planning For Triggers Cannot Wait Until the Axe Falls

By David GreenwaldOctober 4, 20129 comments

COMMENTARY: Teachers Need to Take the Concessions That Others Have Already Taken – Is there a misperception about the need for cuts and concessions in the community? A letter to the editor of the Davis Enterprise seems to suggest as much.

Karen Newton of Davis writes: “Why is the Davis school district demanding concessions from its teachers and support personnel? Currently, there is enough in the budget to pay these educators.”

School Board Candidates Written Responses – Part One

By David GreenwaldSeptember 24, 201244 comments

On Monday, October 1, 2012, the Davis Vanguard and Davis Media Access (DMA) will be hosting a candidates forum for the Davis School Board candidates to be held in the Harper Junior High Multipurpose room. The doors open at 6:30 PM and the forum begins at 7:00 PM.

The forum will have a unique setup in that candidates will be seated facing each other in a discussion format. Each of the five candidates will ask one question to be answered by themselves and the other candidates, and then there will be time at the end for question and answer of the candidates.

Sunday Commentary: Trouble Brewing for the School District with Labor Strife Ahead of Key Vote

By David GreenwaldSeptember 9, 201226 comments

Last spring, the voters of Davis once again stepped up to the plate and approved an extension of the district parcel taxes. They did so nearly at a 3 to 1 rate. However, as we warned at the time, passing Measure C was not going to be the cure-all. The district will still have 3.5 million dollars in the form of a persistent structural deficit to deal with.

Had the teachers been willing to make additional concessions, the district might have avoided having to lay off more than fifty teachers and other employees.

Commentary: Granda Continues Deceptive Rhetoric Against the School District

By David GreenwaldJuly 6, 201220 comments

From the very beginning, the school district was very clear that, while Measure C would close some of the ten million dollar funding gap, it would not cover all of it. Thus, when the voters passed Measure C in March, that gap was reduced down to 3.5 million dollars.

The district had hoped to avoid further layoffs, but when negotiations with the teachers union failed to achieve the necessary concessions, the district had to lay off 50 employees.

Commentary: Should the District Lay It All Out for the Voters?

By David GreenwaldJuly 5, 201268 comments

We have spent a bit of time discussing on these pages whether the district ought to ask the voters one more time (or more) if they would approve yet another emergency parcel tax.

At the state level, the governor attached automatic trigger cuts to the budget so the voters know exactly what the consequences will be if the tax measure fails. They are immensely unpopular with the voters, but they serve a number of vital purposes.

Peterson Endorses Parcel Tax As District Faces Fiscal Emergency

By David GreenwaldJuly 3, 201232 comments

Last week, the Davis School board did what it never thought it would do – put yet another parcel tax on the ballot. However, under the best case scenario, the governor’s budget provides for flat funding if the November tax measure passes.

Even if that occurs, the district would still lose around three million dollars when Measure A sunsets.

Harris’ Move Shifts the School District’s Paradigm

By David GreenwaldJune 30, 201242 comments

The writing was on the wall last week, the Davis School Board was not going to put the restoration of this year’s cuts on the ballot.

There were good and solid reasons laid out by Gina Daleiden last week for not attempting to restore the cuts from last year, resulting in a net 50-position cut.

Commentary: Once More Our Schools Are in Crisis and the Community is Called to Step Up

By David GreenwaldJune 23, 201264 comments

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before – the school district is facing fiscal crisis that requires immediate action or we face cuts in the millions. And the worst part is that there is a very real chance that even if the district is able to make those cuts, it will lack the cash to meet payrolls and end up being taken over by the state – the same state that is largely responsible for these problems in the first place.

People have the right to be skeptical. After all, if you cry doom and gloom all of the time, people have the tendency to regard you as the boy that cried wolf. At some point when you are crying fiscal emergency all of the time, people stop running.

School Board Leans Toward 444 Dollar Parcel Tax

By David GreenwaldJune 22, 201263 comments

The School Board did not have a vote on Thursday night, but there is clear support at this point for putting another parcel tax measure on the ballot this November that, while falling short of the bold initiative put forward by Trustee Richard Harris, would enable the district to stay afloat during a time that more than one board member called the most fiscally troubling so far.

As Richard Harris explained on Thursday night, the $642 proposal was actually three pieces rolled into one. The first component would be restoring the 2012-13 staffing that was cut as the result of the $3.5 million structural gap. After the DTA balked at concessions, that resulted in 50 layoffs.

Granda Says He Will Lead the No-Tax Campaign

By David GreenwaldJune 15, 201260 comments

Jose Granda and Thomas Randall have never seen a tax that they like, which is their right and it is fine. However, Jose Granda does not seem to understand a few things. First, how poor your ballot arguments have to be in order for a judge to strike them as intentionally misleading and deceptive.

Moreover, he does not seem to understand how out of step he is with the rest of Davis. As he was leading his anti-tax brigade this spring, he got less than 28% of his fellow citizens to buy into it.

Davis Schools Remain in Cash Flow Crisis

By David GreenwaldJune 13, 201230 comments

Superintendent Winfred Roberson would not commit to supporting Richard Harris’ radical and stunning proposal, which coupled with his surprise announcement not to run has turned the school district calculations on their head.

But the Superintendent did say that he “admires the proposal” and is impressed that Mr. Harris cares enough to stop attempting to fix the schools’ fiscal policies through piecemeal. Mr. Harris recognizes the truth that Davis cannot wait for the state to fix its fiscal problems.

Richard Harris Forgoes School Board Reelection to Focus on Dramatic New Parcel Tax Proposal

By David GreenwaldJune 12, 201234 comments

In a stunning and dramatic decision by school board member Richard Harris, he announced that he will not seek reelection to the position that he was elected to in 2007, where he helped to guide the district through budget crisis after budget crisis, and one-time fix after one-time fix.

“I want to give people enough time to know that I’m not running,” he told the Vanguard. “I’m not running because I need more time with my family and my work, but I still want to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish when I first ran.”

May Revise Puts a Huge and Surprising Hurt on School District

By David GreenwaldMay 15, 201287 comments

A situation that was already volatile may be push to the brink by surprisingly bad news in the May revise that was issued on Monday. Even before that news, the school district was facing a three million dollar deficit and facing more cutbacks.

Last week, the situation turned tense as the district was planning a 5.5 percent cut.

Teachers Resisting the Call For Shared Sacrifice

By David GreenwaldMay 8, 201242 comments

When voters back in March overwhelmingly approved the renewal of the parcel tax, we warned the voters that this was not going to cover the entire deficit. In addition to the six million dollars funded by the parcel tax, there was another three million structural deficit.

Last week, the situation became heated as a large number of teachers came to the school board meeting to complain about potential plans for a 5.5 percent cut.

By Bill Storm, Ingrid Salim and Greg Brucker

GUEST COMMENTARY – We go public with this blog the day after California voters have approved Prop. 30, and Davis voters have approved Measure E, both measures being an affirmation of the value citizens place on public education.

COMMENTARY: Teachers Need to Take the Concessions That Others Have Already Taken – Is there a misperception about the need for cuts and concessions in the community? A letter to the editor of the Davis Enterprise seems to suggest as much.

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