Open Letter to the Capistrano Unified School District Trustees

Trustees:

Tonight you will be voting on employment contracts with CUEA (Teachers) and CSEA (Classified Staff). As such, I wanted to remind you that you have been elected by the people to represent the interests of taxpayers and students in all matters before the Board. You have a legal fiduciary duty to make sure that the interests of students and taxpayers are represented during the collective bargaining process.

The proposed contract with CUEA harms both taxpayers and students. If you vote for this contract you will be in breach of your fiduciary duty to taxpayers and students for the following reasons:

1. This represents the 4th consecutive year of compensation increases that are funded by denying educational opportunity for students to have high quality staff, program expansion and variety, beneficial teacher-pupil ratios and class sizes, modern equipment and materials, and high quality buildings.

Average Teacher compensation:

2012-13 $ 95,673

2013-14 $105,340

2014-15 $108,392

2015-16 $110,633 if contract is approved tonight

2. Per pupil funding from the State is limited to 2007-08 levels + inflation not to be reached until 2021. This means that CUSD will have had relatively flat per pupil funding from the State for 14 years straight. During the great recession CUSD was forced to cut $152 million from its budget and we are still operating the District on funding that has not enabled the District to rehire staff, restore lost programs, reduce class sizes, or fix and maintain our facilities. This is a district that fundraises for art, music, science, class size reduction, instructional materials and supplies and employee compensation, staff development, teacher release time, librarians and instructional aids.

Capistrano Unified School District Per Pupil Funding 2007 - present

2007-08 $7,694

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 $8,042

By 2021 $7,694 + Inflation or approximately $8,271

3. Students are no longer receiving instruction in the State's mandated minimum curriculum. The District no longer funds art, music and science. Only those schools that can raise sufficient funds through donations receive art, music and science that align with state content standards and curriculum frameworks. Denying students a minimum curriculum so that the district can give employees more money denies students in our poorest schools of their fundamental right to a quality education. Every student in the Capistrano Unified School District has a fundamental right to equal opportunity to achieve a quality education.

"Equal Opportunity to Achieve a Quality Education" has been defined by the courts to be:

"… Opportunity to obtain high quality staff, program expansion and variety, beneficial teacher-pupil ratios and class sizes, modern equipment and materials, and high-quality buildings."

[Serrano v. Priest II (1976) 18 Cal. 3d 748] http://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/18/728.html

As a Trustee, it is your responsibility to see that every child has access to the full state mandated minimum curriculum taught by appropriately credentialed teachers. Until every student in CUSD receives district funded art, music and science that is taught by a teacher that is credentialed to teach those subjects, and is taught course curriculum that aligns with State Standards and Curriculum Frameworks, no funding should be used for compensation increases.

4. CUSD has, for the past four years, put the economic interests of employees above the educational needs of students, and this contract is especially egregious because it will deny students in 3/4 and 4/5 combo classes of 80 minutes per week of instructional time with their individual classroom teacher. So while a student in a normal 4th or 5th grade class will have 292 instructional minutes per week with their classroom teacher, students in 3/4 and 4/5 combos will only receive 212 instructional minutes with their teacher. This creates inequalities in instructional time between normal 4th and 5th grade students and those that are in 3/4 and 4/5 combo classes. Such inequalities of instructional time violate the fundamental rights all students have to equal opportunity to achieve a quality education.

5. The Districts LCAP has promised parents and the public that class sizes would be reduced. Despite budgeting $4.9 million for class size reductions, class sizes have not been reduced. CUSD has the largest class sizes in the nation and in the State of California. Money that was budgeted for class size reduction last year was spent on employee compensation increases instead of class size reduction. Students have a right to beneficial pupil-teacher ratios and class sizes which CUSD students are not currently receiving. The contract is not transparent about what staffing ratios and average class sizes are under the new agreement. I would ask that the District to delay a vote on this contract until the public has an opportunity to understand the changes in class size and how these changes will affect students. What are the proposed class sizes and staffing ratios that have been negotiated under this contract?

6. If this contract is approved, CUSD will be increasing the amount of money the district will contribute to employee health benefits which will directly affect the amount of money that the district has to ensure that all students have opportunity to obtain high quality staff, program expansion and variety, beneficial teacher-pupil ratios and class sizes, modern equipment and materials, and high-quality buildings which they are currently being denied.

7. If this contract is approved, every taxpayer within CUSD will be harmed by the increase in unfunded pension liabilities which have grown from $49 million four years ago to $57 million as of the June 2015 when the last budget was adopted.

8. Taxpayers are harmed financially when a district fails to use funds to provide a minimum level of education so that students can compete with their peers for entrance into college and for merit money. The Districts lack of honors classes has made it difficult for students to get the GPA they need to compete for entrance into California's public colleges. As a result some students are forced to attend private colleges colleges that can cost almost double what it costs to send students to California public schools. The disadvantage in GPA also prevents students from receiving the amount of merit money they would be entitled to if there was a wider variety of honors classes.

9. 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. It is not only unconscionable, but illegal for CUSD to use District funds that should be going to support educational opportunity for students to pay Government Financial Strategies to market a bond to the public.

In summary, we have a system that forces parents to pay for a public education system that is constitutionally mandated to provide an equal opportunity to every student to achieve a quality education but is has failed to live up to that promise. As a result of a lack of adequate funding from the State of California, and as a result of a district who puts the economic interests of employees above the education of students there has been a notable and continual decline in academic performance across all demographics in CUSD.

Please delay a vote on this contract until parents understand what class sizes are being proposed and taxpayers have an ability to understand the consequences of these employment contracts on the taxpayer.

Dawn Urbanek

Parent/Advocate/Taxpayer

Capistrano Unified School District