Collaboration - Collusion - Conspiracy

The Governor, State Legislature, State Board of Education, County Board of Education, and the Capistrano Unified School district, their Board of Trustees and State employee Unions conspired to protect and grow employee salaries, pensions and benefits during the great recession. Now, through the longest economic recovery in the United States history they are leaving the State’s public education system on life support. The chart below illustrates the long term plan that California colluded to create and has been following. This chart has been a part of every budget presentation in CUSD for years.

The Road to Recovery for District Employees has been paved by Sacramento who made sure that Prop 30 taxes; which every educational institution in California illegally “advocated” for, would be passed so that the unfunded pensions of government employees could be backfilled. At the same time, local school districts made sure that employee compensation was fully restored by 2015-16 so that aging employees can retire fully compensated with maximized pensions.

Average Teacher Compensation (salary, pensions and benefits) 2007-08 to the present:

• 2007-08 (Request for Public Records being made.)
• 2008-09 $ 95,816
• 2009-12 CUSD/CUEA Contract July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2012 (Request for Public Records being made.)
• 2012-13 $ 96,673
• 2013-14 $105,340
• 2014 -15 $108,392

Prop 30 Tax increases were suppose to save public education.

It is now settled that 80% of K- 12 Prop 30 money went to employee salaries, pensions and benefits; while students continued to suffer increased class sizes, cuts to programs, reduced instructional time (furlough days), and deferred maintenance. Source: http://trackprop30.ca.gov/K12State.aspx (60% of K-12 Prop 30 money went to salaries 20% went to benefits).

On June 24, 2014 Governor Brown signed AB 1469 to “ensure a decent retirement for teachers”.

The California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) was only 67% funded, and would have run out of money in 33 years. The legislation increased the required amount of contributions from Teachers, the State and school districts to CalSTRS and CalPERS. The contributions will grow to $5 billion annually and eliminate the unfunded liability by 2046.

Source: https://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=18581.

Unfortunately for school districts, the bulk of the increased cost of the contributions are coming from school districts. By design the State is making very small increases to State Contributions or employee contributions.

Source: March 11, 2015 Board of Trustees Meeting Exhibit “7” 2014-15 2nd Interim Report http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/file/1229223560406/1218998864154/1656258531914081660.pdf

The new CalSTRS and CalPERS contributions will represent 9.8% of CUSD’s total budget by 2021. With employee compensation at 90+ % CUSD’s entire budget will be going to employee compensation with no funding for anything else.

Capistrano Unified School District per pupil funding since 2007-08 to the present

• 2007-08: $7,694 LCFF = $7,694 + inflation by 2021 = $8,829
• 2008-09: $7,614
• 2009-10: $7,246
• 2010-11: $7,228
• 2011-12: $7,469
• 2012-13: $7,002
• 2013-14: $7,419
• 2014-15: $6,848 *this may have been adjust mid-year to $7,500
• 2015-16: $7,693
• 2021 Projection: $8,829

Source 2007-14: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/ec/currentexpense.asp (this data stops at 2013-14)

Source 2014-15: June 25, 2014 Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda Item #13 page 208

Source 2015-16: June 24, 2015 Board of Trustee Meeting Agenda Item #6 page 210

CUSD per pupil funding is going to remain flat for 14 years (2007 - 2021) CUSD is not receiving sufficient funding to provide any student with an opportunity to achieve a quality education because there is -0- funding for students to obtain high quality staff, program expansion and variety, beneficial teacher-pupil ratios and class sizes, modern equipment and materials, and high-quality buildings.

The Road To Recovery for Students

The State’s view of “Local Control” is to keep local taxes at the State level, but push all the increased costs (for example- CalSTRS and CalPERS) down to the local level and then give taxpayers the opportunity to increase local taxes and bonds to pay for the “student recovery”. This is evidenced by the following:

Assembly Bill 464 increases to 3% (from the current 2% cap) the maximum sales tax rate that can be levied by local governments.

Local Bond “Debt”

California’s 2015- 16 5-year Infrastructure Plan contains -0- dollars for K-12 Public Education (the States #1 Constitutionally mandated expenditure) That is by design. The State expects local school districts to raise local tax money to fund facilities maintenance (after it has allowed districts to deplete deferred maintenance funds to fund employee compensation) and will no longer provide matching funds for new construction. Taxpayers are funding a less than basic education at their local public school district 4 times: ... state taxes, local taxes, bonds and fundraising all so that public employee unions can enrich themselves at the expense of educating students.

California’s 5 Year Infrastructure Plan

The State of California has shifted it’s spending priorities from K-12 Public Education to High Speed Rail and CARB (California Air Resources Board) without amending the California Constitution as evidenced by the State’s 2015 Five-Year Infrastructure Plan.

Source: http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2015-Infrastructure-Plan.pdf at page 4

The State’s 5-year infrastructure plan does not provide any funding for K-12 Public Education. The $234 million that is being spent on Education is allocated as follows:

Source: http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/2015-Infrastructure-Plan.pdf at page 79

• K- 12 Public Education: *No funding at all
• State Special Schools: $90.5 million
• High Education: UC $25 million
• California State University: $25 million
• California Community Colleges $99.6 million

The Governors infrastructure plan does not allocate any facilities funding for K-12 Public Education stating that it is the intention of the State to provide greater flexibility for Cities, Counties and local school districts to borrow money, or raise taxes to fund K-12 infrastructure projects. The State is taking it’s Constitutionally mandated obligation to FIRST fund a K-12 public education system and placing that responsibility on taxpayers at the local level. This is equivalent to forcing taxpayers to pay twice for a service that the State is already mandated to provide. Such a municipal tax overburden is an unconstitutional violation of Article XVI, §8 of the California Constitution.

A state’s priorities are reflected in the manner in which it chooses to spend it’s money. The major priority for the State’s 2015 5-Year Infrastructure Plan is to spend $252.8 million dollars on High Speed Rail. It is unconscionable that the State of California would deny students an opportunity to addend school in high-quality buildings with modern equipment and materials so that the State can fund a very controversial high speed rail project.

Other State priorities include $366 million on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to build a new state of the art air pollution testing laboratory.

CUSD students are attending school in overcrowded classrooms, in facilities that are no longer safe, with staff to student ratios that are not safe.

Deferred Maintenance

During the economic downturn, the State allowed Districts to use Deferred Maintenance Funds for General Fund purposes. According to the District’s Facilities Master Plan developed in 2009 and updated in 2013, CUSD facilities need $822 million in repairs and maintenance. CUSD currently has $44.9 million for facilities.

Source: Capistrano Unified Board Presentation “Facilities Funding Report” dated Nov 6th, 2013 at page 11

http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/file/1229223560406/1218998864154/7695162819501468512.pdf

The taxpayers living within CUSD boundaries will need to raise $1 Billion in new debt just to bring existing facilities up to standards and will need additional money to add portables and build new facilities for already impacted schools.

Following the State’s “Master Plan” CUSD has already begun the predetermined plan of getting a facilities bond to pass.

The District has already spent money to hire Government Financial Strategies to “engage” the community to look at the District’s need for safe, cool, warm, and dry facilities. The predetermined single conclusion will be that CUSD needs a Billion dollar bond to repair existing facilities. Taxpayers should not be forced to raise a billion dollars to fix facilities while the State of California continues to withhold $200 million dollars per year from CUSD. Since 2008, the State has stolen $1.8 billion dollars in funding that CUSD is Constitutionally entitled to.

Learn More At:

http://peopleforstudentrights.com