Adequate School Funding

Re-posted from the San Mateo Daily Journal – August 26, 2011

Adequate school funding

By Shelly Masur

It’s that time of year again — back to school, yes, but it’s also the time when all schools receive their annual grade. Test scores have arrived and the annual judging has begun. Because of the high premium placed on a single test, the arrival of test scores has come to be an event of nail biting and anxiety for everyone — students, teachers and administrators. In California we pile on uncertain and inadequate funding and still expect major improvements in scores each year. So we have to ask ourselves, how much can we expect when we aren’t investing adequately in education? Eventually, our schools will reach a breaking point.

The good news is, test scores are going up for all groups across the state. But the achievement gap between white and Asian students and black and Latino students remains. And districts all over California are struggling to increase student achievement with less money. In general, better test scores, like many measures of success, tend to reflect better funding and more advantages in life. We all agree that money does not solve every problem, and a long hard look at how you spend resources is critical. Particularly during times like these, how we spend each dollar becomes even more crucial as the dollars are so few. However, a look across the state and a look at my own district, Redwood City, tells the story of the need for adequate school funding and how it can impact student success.

I have been a school board member for six years. Every year but one, we have had to make cuts to balance our budget. And despite those budget cuts — the most severe since the Great Depression — our district has increased test scores each of those years. But this year’s test scores show a persistent achievement gap, suggesting that budget cuts are taking a toll. In the last three years we have cut over $1,000 — almost 20 percent — per student. Students who need extra support no longer have summer school, a resource teacher, enrichment opportunities or small class sizes and their teachers no longer have out-of-classroom support in curriculum or teaching. That’s a travesty in a district where two-thirds of the children are eligible for free- or reduced-lunch and about half are learning English — a district where adequate funding could effectively address the achievement gap. At Taft School, for example, financial investments from outside funders and expanded programming through partnerships resulted in a remarkable increase in achievement and student engagement. Three years ago, thanks to those investments, Taft became one of only nine schools in the state to exit program improvement under No Child Left Behind.

As a school board member and parent, I take ensuring a quality education for children very seriously. It is hard to do a good job, however, with already severe budget cuts and the looming prospect that those cuts will get worse. State revenue projections continue to fall short and endanger all the hard work of our teachers and staff as we open the doors for a new school year.

Each year, teachers and staff are asked to do more with less and keep improving achievement. But each year, more difficult working conditions and uncertain funding make that even harder. For example, the number of school days is tied to how much money we receive from the state, which is tied to whether or not state tax collections remain on track. So this year, like last year, we don’t even know how many days of school we will have.

And it’s a vicious cycle. When we decrease funding for education and educational opportunities, our children grow up less prepared to go to college or have a career. If we don’t teach a child to read by third grade, he or she is much more likely to drop out of school and to be incarcerated. In our community and across the state, we need to break that cycle by investing in education, not divesting.

Despite all this, we are lucky in Redwood City. We have committed staff and amazing partners who help us combat the lack of funding and provide opportunities for our children to have a well-rounded curriculum and access to services both for our students and their families. These partnerships have resulted in remarkable gains on state tests — gains that show when we invest in our kids and take seriously our commitment to education, we can make a difference for all our children.

So what should we do? Make sure we do the best we can to support our teachers and staff as they move into another year of potential turmoil. Hold high expectations for our students but don’t look to state tests as the ultimate arbiter of whether our children are learning. Support your local education foundation or a local parcel tax. And don’t forget to let your legislators know that we need them to continue to fight for our children and for our future.

Shelly Masur serves on the Redwood City Elementary School District Board of Trustees and the mother of three.