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Hello, everyone—
The loop has finally closed on the typically arduous process of achieving a
2011-2012 state budget. Although the experience wasn't as drawn out this
year as in the past, we still had to suffer through extended periods of
wondering whether the final product would spell disaster for public education.
Governor Brown signed the budget on June 30 after vetoing an earlier version
that was criticized as relying on the usual gimmickry instead of solid financial
practices. The budget we ended up with was much less reliant on gimmicks,
and fairly favorable for education...although there is the possibility of a
mid-year cut to education if state revenues do not materialize as expected (more
on that caveat later).
In general, this budget ended up with no cuts to education. However, it
did include a $2.1 billion deferral of funding to 2012-2013. Obviously,
this deferral poses cash flow issues for many districts, and they will have to
look at borrowing funds to tide them over until the funding comes through.
The budget trailer bill said that districts should project the same revenue
level per student as the previous year, and maintain staffing commensurate with
that level.
In the case of the County Office of Education, this would affect our
Alternative Education schools only; not special education, Head Start, state
preschool, etc. Also, an education agency would be allowed to reduce staff
in the case of loss of federal funds or declining enrollment—both of which apply
in our case. Therefore, we do not plan to reinstate any teachers whom we
were forced to lay off last spring.
I do not anticipate any further cuts to our student programs. As has
been in case in the past, we will operate the Alternative Education schools at a
deficit for the upcoming school year. That deficit will be funded out of
reserves.
Now, back to that caveat I mentioned earlier. There is an element of
uncertainty in this budget. It was built on optimistic projections of
revenue increases of $6.6 billion more than the January projections. And in
fact, since the May budget revision, tax receipts have been about $1.2 billion
higher than anticipated.
But we all know how sensitive the economy is. If revenues fall short by
more than $2 billion by December, we will see mid-year cuts in education. Should
that occur, one of the few tools the legislature made available for cuts was the
means to negotiate to cut the school year by seven more days.
With that in mind—I plan to do my Christmas shopping early this year, and am
urging everyone to do the same, so that we can bolster the state's revenues.
I'll be ready for Christmas by Halloween.
By now, we have become accustomed to facing challenges in the budget, and to
making adjustments here at the County Office to keep our operation running lean,
but still at optimum efficiency. We are facing some additional
challenges this year with health insurance costs. Our Health Care Cost
Containment Committee is hard at work now to get us the best possible deal.
But in spite of all the challenges, I'm optimistic that we'll make it through
this fiscal year strong and sound. As always, I thank you all for your
hard work to make that possible.
Thanks for reading.
--Chuck
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