White House Is Not Happy With Amendment to HR5

The White House is Reporting That the Capistrano Unified School District Will Receive $1.1 Million In Additional Funding With The Passage of HR 5 “The Student Success Act” ... The Administration is Not Happy About That!

On February 11th, 2015 the House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed the Student Success Act (H.R. 5) to reauthorize and reform the No Child Left Behind Act through 2021.

Bill Information

• Fact Sheet: Student Success Act
• Fact Sheet: Reducing the Federal Footprint and Restoring Local Control
• Fact Sheet: Empowering Parents and Education Leaders to Hold Schools Accountable
• Detailed Bill Summary: The Student Success Act Bill Text: Student Success Act
• Printable Pocket Card: Student Success Act

In response, the White House Released a report “Investing in our Future: Helping Teachers and Schools Prepare Our Children for College and Careers”. The report is claiming that amendments to the Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act could cut $7 billion in Title I funding over the six years and would result in increased funding to “Wealthy “ School Districts such as the Capistrano Unified School District in Orange County California

“Capistrano Unified School District (Orange County, CA) would receive more than $1.1 million in additional funds. Fewer than 9% of families there live below the poverty line.”

See the Full report at:http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/final_investing_in_our_future_report.pdf

See White House Blog at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/02/13/school-districts-you-dont-see-map-tell-much-story-ones-you-do-see

WHILE THERE ARE A LOT OF WEALTHY PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY - THE SAD TRUTH IS THAT CUSD IS ONE OF THE MOST UNDERFUNDED SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE NATION

Capistrano Unified receives $7,002 in per pupil funding with that amount projected to increase to $8,500 by 2021

To put that number into perspective CUSD is receiving $2,499 per student less then California’s current average per pupil spending of $9,501 and $4,224 per student less than the current national average of $11,226.

Between the State of California’s new LCFF Law (which is intentionally designed to underfund wealthy suburban school districts) our Governments (State and Federal) are stealing $200 million per year from taxpayers in the Capistrano Unified School District and are in fact depriving our children of their constitutional right to a “FREE” and “ADEQUATE” public education.

Sources:

Per Pupil Spending by District California as of Feb 18, 2014:http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/lcffoverview.asphttp://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1392894044236http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/ec/currentexpense.asp

Capistrano Unified School District Financial Report- Governor’s 2014-15 Proposed Budget and May Revise:http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/file/1229223560406/1218998864154/1331468026996732138.pdf

Update Education Week Research Center:http://www.edweek.org/media/ew/qc/2014/shr/16shr.ca.h33.pdf

What about the Poor and English Language Learners in the Capistrano Unified School District?

The fact is that EVERY student in Capistrano Unified, irrespective of their individual wealth, race or ethnicity is being deprived of an education simply because they happen to live in a wealthy area. That is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. Our Government is not entitled to use our public education system to “redistribute wealth”.

JUST THE FACTS:

The Continued Lack of Adequate Funding Has Resulted in a Notable Decline in Student Performance Across all Demographics.

API
Capistrano Unified promotes itself as the Highest Performing Large School District in the State. CUSD has dropped to #4 this year- API is down 9 points from last year.Source: http://api.cde.ca.gov/Acnt2013/2013GrowthDstApi.aspx?cYear=&allcds=30664...

Largest Class sizes in California- Largest in the Nation
CUSD is currently facing $1.8 million in fines for having class sizes that exceed State standards.

Current “AVERAGE” Class sizes:
Kindergarten: 30.5 students to 1 teacher
Grades 1-5: 31.5 students to 1 teacher
Grades 6-8: 32.5 students to 1 teacher
Grades 9-12: 34.5 students to 1 teacher

Even with the passage of Prop 30 and new LCFF money, CUSD was forced to, once again, seek a waiver from the State for Class Size Reduction for 2014- 15. Approval of the 2014- 2015 waivers would eliminate financial penalties for increasing class sizes in:

Kindergarten: Average 33 students to 1 teacher with a maximum of 35 students to 1 teacher in an individual classroom
Grades 1- 3: Average 34 students to 1 teacher with a maximum of 35 students to 1 teacher in an individual classroom
Grades 4-8: Averages above 29.9 – no maximum set for individual classrooms

Source: February 12, 2014 Board Meeting Agenda Item #1 and 2http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/file/1229223560406/1218998864154/7569031574149012313.pdf

LCAP DATA

• 39% of the Students graduating from CUSD are ready for College level courses in English Language Arts.
• 99% of English Language Learners are unprepared for college level course-work in English Language Arts.
• 23% of the Students graduating from CUSD are ready for College level courses in Mathematics.
• 22% of English Language Learners are prepared for college level course-work in Mathematics.
• 54% of Students Complete A-G Requirements by Graduation
• By Senior Year only 59% of Students are on Track to Graduate (CUSD has 4,035 High School Freshman - 81.5% are on track to graduate with that number dropping to 59% by 11th Grade)
• 50.2% of CUSD Graduates attend Community College. Only 39% of CUSD graduates enter a 4-year college or university. Of the 39% less than 10% are attending a selective 4- year private university or college.
• Of those students who do attend College 61% need remedial coursework in English Language Arts before they can begin college level coursework.
• Only 1% of CUSD English Language Learners demonstrate a readiness for college-level course-work in English Language Arts.
• Of those students who are attending college 77% need remedial coursework in Math before they can begin college level coursework.

Source: March 26, 2014 Board Meeting Agenda Item #4 “Data for the Local Control Accountability Plan”

http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/file/1229223560406/1218998864154/1463621950735616281.pdf Agenda Item #4 - Exhibit 4

CUSD has cut $152 million from the District’s budget since 2008 – Restoring Budgets to 2008 levels will not begin to provide adequate funding for students now and certainly not in the year 2021

For a detailed list of cuts see:

California’s Local Control Funding Formula - A Parents Perspective:http://disclosurecusd.blogspot.com/2014/11/re-research-brief-toward-grand-vision.html