School Officials, Union Head, Voters Debate Measure S

Glendale Unified School District officials, educators and community members assembled Tuesday in La Crescenta to exchange views on the $270 million bond initiative known as .

As state cuts in education funding have strained school districts throughout California, the Glendale school board-supported ballot measure is intended to improve campus infrastructure, upgrade technology and safeguard staff from layoffs and further reductions in compensation.

Supporters hope Measure S will provide a second phase of voter-approved funding as 1997's bond Measure K approaches repayment status. Measure K provided $186 million that paid for major building projects at Glendale schools.

Measure S will pick up where K leaves off and cost stakeholders the same tax rate, $46 per $100,000 of property value, officials said.

"Given the continued bleak outlook of the state budgets and the fact that the state continues to take funding from public education, Measure S is something that is more important than ever to move our students into the 21st century," said John A. Garcia Jr., GUSD deputy superintendent.

Despite assurances from district officials that roughly $20 million of the Measure S total will indirectly bolster teacher salaries by relieving pressure on existing buget obligations, the teachers union opposes the ballot initiative due largely to doubts that it will effectively prevent class sizes from increasing.

"The most important aspect of a child's learning is the teacher in the classroom," said Tami Carlson, president of the Glendale Teachers Association. "If the class sizes get larger, the teacher has less time to spend with each student."

Another issue is that the school district has balked on specifically designating the $20 million for payroll relief.

"We've asked them to sign an agreement with us ... and they have refused to do so," said Carlson. "Measure S money cannot be used to keep class sizes reasonable. It will free up $20 million for that purpose, but the district will not commit to doing that."

School officials who attended the evening meeting at blamed Sacramento's chaotic fiscal situation for the district's noncommittal stance.

"If you don't know what your income is going to be, then you can't promise funds," said Garcia.

"Due to the state's fiscal crisis, we have been advised that we could be reduced anywhere from $9 million to $20 million a year," Eva Lueck, GUSD chief business officer, said Wednesday. "That means when we do a three-year budget to present to the state we need to show $9 million each year—that's $27 million. So if we get $20 million from Measure S, we would still need to cut $7 million."

Carlson questioned the accuracy of the district's projections because they aren't based on real dollar amounts, she said.

Lueck added that because 90 percent of the general fund budget covers personnel costs, odds are money saved as a result of Measure S would end up in teachers' pockets.

In the last few fiscal years, officials said the district has instituted work furloughs for all employees, reduced benefit compensation, stopped salary increases and new hires, but it has maintained a 24-to-1 student-teacher class size.