Gov. Brown's Revised Budget Doesn't Calm School District's Fears

Gov. Jerry Brown's revised state budget, revealed Monday, provides an additional $3 billion for K-12 education, but local educators aren't yet celebrating.

"While we are pleased to hear that the governor is proposing no further cuts to education, we remain cautiously optimistic," Poway Unified Superintendent John Collins said in a statement Tuesday.

"We know that a proposed budget is not the same as an adopted budget. We also need the public to recognize that a no-cuts budget for education still leaves us far behind due to the loss of millions of dollars in state funding during the last few years," Collins said.

Brown's initial proposed budget slightly reduced the amount of state funding provided per student. The exact local impact of the proposed additional funding is not yet clear.

In Poway Unified School District board meetings over the past several months, Collins has routinely pointed out how much more money the district is owed by the state, a point seemingly not lost on the governor.

In a statement announcing the revised budget, Brown's office said, "Even with this new infusion of funds, California schools are still owed billions by the state."

In the 2009-10 school year, for example, PUSD received $4,950 per student but should have been receiving $6,372 based on cost of living increases over a set baseline, according to the district. However, in addition to not receiving the cost of living increases, funding has fallen below the baseline set in the 2007-08 school year due to cuts. In the current school year, the district is receiving more than $1,100 less per student than projected.

The cuts have meant larger classes, layoffs and service reductions for PUSD students and staff. The district plans to tap into millions of dollars in reserve to avoid laying off any teachers for the coming school year.