Ever since top San Diego Unified School District officials recently warned that the district is financially “at the edge of the cliff, looking over and down at insolvency,” discussion on those education stories has been rampant.
(A few quick explainers: How schools got to this point, what happens if schools go broke and how insolvency’s long been part of district talks.)
Here are 10 of your comments from the insolvency discussion:
• Mark Giffin:
It’s sad.
Like watching a member of your family that has engaged in a reckless and imprudent financial behavior while ignoring the fiscal realities they had been warned about.
• Dryw Keltz:
It just seems inevitable that the current model of public education is going to fall apart. Especially in times like this. Even when the economy was booming it never seemed like San Diego Unified was swimming in money. They were obviously gonna take a hit when the country went down the toilet. Betting on the CA economy to turn around in order to offset cuts was a terrible plan. A similar plan would have found the district instructing all of its employees to start investing in Mega Millions tickets.
• Mike Hall:
Can we ask the State to take over now or do we have to wait for the district to further ruin our schools? … The district is not serious about taking real action now.
• Mary Laiuppa:
It’s not like SDUSD is unique on all of the state.
Could the state afford to do this to the majority of school districts in this state?
…What we need is a different way to fund education, one that is not a mystery until the last minute, does not fluctuate wildly and one that pays up front, not with IOUs that may never materialize.
With insolvency looming, I suspect the labor collective will lose in a very big way. Parents do not understand why their child’s teacher is not subject to the standard management practices to which they are subject every day. Parents work hard for their pay (just like you do) but every day their jobs are on the line, subject to performance evaluations. Many of these parents have suffered layoffs at all levels of experience, performance and responsibility.
Look at the comments here on VOSD. The tide is turning. The weakness of management is showing- parents and taxpayers are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.
Everyone wants someone else to give up something. Teachers should work more for less pay. Members of the school board should give up their pay or maybe resign. All the schools should be closed. Vouchers are the only way to go. But what are each of you doing to help? What are each of you willing to give to ensure all of our children, whether north or south of the 8, are getting the best education possible?
• Arthur Salm:
It’s not a revenue problem? It certainly IS a revenue problem, driven by the brainless mantra that taxes are evil. Well, taxes pay for civilization. And ours is breaking down because of a blind, perhaps fatally misguided collective selfishness.
When you can show me that we have done EVERYTHING possible to protect our kids’ education and that ALL decisions are made to the benefit of our kids and their education, I will gladly pony up whatever it takes.
With all the unfunded mandates from the state and Department of Education in Washington, I’m surprised that public education has lasted as long as it has.
• Glenn Boogren, who wanted to know what the school board members who voted to rehire teachers this past summer had to say:
It would be nice to see/hear what the 4 yes votes have to say now about their decisions. Blaming it on the state rather than taking ownership of their actions is unacceptable. Why did they hire the CFO, negotiate a competitive compensation package, (with a recent raise), & then ignore his advice?
(Our Will Carless rounded up their replies and that of the lone dissenting vote, Scott Barnett.)
Bonus! Comments on our Facebook page in reaction to school board President Richard Barrera’s ideas for fixing the state’s system for funding education.
Comments quoted here may have been edited for style, grammar or readability.
Dagny Salas is the web editor at voiceofsandiego.org. You can contact her directly at dagny.salas@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5669.
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