California students face tight budgets at school and at home, UCLA reports

Principals at public high schools in California report that the sour statewide economy has had increasingly dire effects on their campuses, leaving students to face continuous budget cuts at schools while struggling families deal with the remaining effects of the recession, according to a UCLA survey of school administrators released Monday.

To that end, state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson also released a report Monday that showed 2 million students -- or 30% of pupils -- in California attend a financially troubled school.

In the UCLA survey, conducted by the Institute of Democracy, Education and Access, 74% of responding principals told of dramatic increases in class sizes, with some nearly doubling. Summer school had been reduced or cut altogether at 65% of schools. Half of the schools reported a significant reduction in their ranks of counselors.

One principal in Riverside County said her budget was so tight, the school couldn’t afford the frogs for a biology class to dissect (the school bought only one frog, which the students watched their teacher cut open).

While the effects of budget cuts are felt on campuses, the principals said their students also are feeling  increased economic hardships at home: 75% of principals said they’d seen an increase in homelessness among their student population; 56% saw increased food insecurity.

The UCLA report is “a wake-up call for California and its leaders,” Torlakson said in a conference call on Monday. “We have to invest in education again and start to turn things around.”

The UCLA  survey questioned 277 principals across California selected to represent the geographic and economic diversity of the state. Researchers then followed up and interviewed 78 principals, reflecting the same diversity.

Todd Ullah, principal of George Washington Preparatory High School in South Los Angeles, said the school had managed to raise test scores, attendance and college-enrollment rates despite the budget cuts. But he said he’d had to rely on contributions from the community to keep those efforts going.

But, like many principals across the state, he said he had reached the point where further cuts would inhibit his students’ education, and there aren’t other sources of funds left to tap. “Under the current budget scenario," Ullah said, "it’s going to be very difficult to ask people to do more with so much less.”

Paula Hanzel, principal of New Technology High School in Sacramento, offered a dire warning: The state’s failure to invest in education and continued cuts are “mortgaging our future” in California.

In her own school, Hanzel said that the “impact on the kids is really starting to show.”

“We’ve cut as much as we can cut at my school without, quite frankly, giving blood,” Hanzel said. “I wonder when people in the state of California will realize you get what you pay for.”

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-- Rick Rojas

Comments

[LAMom]

Maybe if the teachers paid for their own healh insurance, we could balance our budget. You only work 9 months a year, but expect full time benefits. This is insane and has to stop.

[MICHAEL WHITE]

When will these principals realize that the taxpayers are taxed enough? When will they get that? Right now, California is in the midst of a two year tax hike that so far has no fixed the budget problems and these people think they should be extended for another 5 years? If that is not outrageous or ridiculous, I don't know what is. California has amongst the highest state income, sales and vehicle registration taxes in the U.S. It has the highest gas prices in the continental U.S. Unemployment is around 12.3% conservatively. Housing and food prices here are the highest in the nation. I think it's time to give the taxpayer a break. As for the schools, the teachers and staff need to consider taking a pay and pension reduction if they really care. The public service motto says,"The noblest motive is the public good". They need to consider that before themselves.

[kuruc]

the people of CA have realized for years that they have wasted their taxes on public education! first of all, if a student doesn't want to go to school and LEARN, get rid of him/her. the rest want to go to college? GI BILL=COLLEGE EDUCATION! there is no more money, UNDERSTAND?

[Steven Moshlak]

Drill for oil under Lot 32. I said this to Chancellor Young, back in 1980 and the oil is still under there, for the taking.

Students and the UC System have to make a choice. An economical education, by means of maximizing available resources or just keep on feeding the beast, because of all the "Greenies."

[Gem]

It's unfortunate, too many people who are ill-informed. We either pay now or later. If later, it will cost you more to support uneducated workforce who lacks needed skills to succeed in a global economic market. They will be underpaid and will not be able to support themselves or their families. Education is not where you balance the budget. Funding education is a needed fact. If unemployment is high now, it will only get worse in the years to come. Since cost of living is highest in CA; that's why teachers' salaries are somewhat reasonable...; although, teachers have also been hit with no pay increase, furlough days, and out of pocket expenses to make up for what schools don't provide.

[Shevalsheshe]

What's going on in CA? I don't think that other school systems around the country are nearly this bad! Can't buy frogs for science class? That's pretty sad! Something is going on there - bad management, too many children - something is terribly wrong!

[Lynda Fithian]

The fallacy in the comments already posted is that "teachers" only work nine months--I never did. Mine was a full time job for which I was paid only for nine months of the work I did (annual salary/12 months). True educators give constantly and consistently to their students and their classrooms. The study was about the impact of budget cuts on the young people of our state, the future of our state. Should the people of the state of California decide to tax themselves to the benefit of their progeny, they would be choosing the future over the past. There are other cuts and other hard ways to get the budget in order other than continued cuts to education. If we do not educate, we incarcerate...where would you rather spend the money. And by the way, my friends still in education will be taking a 5% pay cut when they can ill afford it. They would be paying the same tax as all other Californians--how about we all sacrifice equally?

[MLK]

@LAMOM
Teaching is a full time job that does not end after the students exit the classroom. As a professor at a community college, I take home tests to grade, email my students their grades weekly, maintain a website, visit high schools on my own time to meet with potential students, write new curriculum and research and apply for grants to replace the lost monetary support from the California state budget.

I work year round, and every colleague I have in education, at the CSULB, K-12, and even Pomona College, do the same. Where I teach, they pay us for 10 months of the year, the other two must be covered by saving money out of each pay check. During the summer I repair equipment in the lab/shop, attend classes to remain current in my field (Auto Technology) and prepare course content so the students can be presented with materials on day 1 of the semester, on my own time without a paycheck.

@ Michael White, I left the private sector and took a substantial pay reduction because I really enjoyed my part time teaching and had the opportunity to do it full time. Educators rarely become monetarily wealthy, we do it to see our students succeed. Flippantly suggesting educators take a pay and pension cut, without understanding how much we are paid for what we must do to create educational opportunities for California's students, does not offer a viable solution to the budget crisis. Please take a look at how much you paid in personal income and property taxes. What if your only options were private schools? If California stopped collecting tax dollars for education only, could you then afford to pay the tuition for private K-12 and college for your children? After you crunch the numbers, let me know by posting back here!

[In Debt We Trust]

The Hami student walkout was a waste of time and effort. It's easy to walk out of class and a lot harder to make voters agree to a bigger property tax bill, especially when the students can afford smart phones and iPods.

[Erik Kengaard]

California reaps the results of growth for growth's sake, Democrats quest for votes at any cost, and Republicans quest for cheap labor. Ted Kennedy is gloating. The people slept.

[Neil J Mason]

What you are seeing is a seminal shift in society from a socio-economic point of view. The budget constraints that the State of California, and the rest of the country for that matter, are experiencing will change the entire education system. The current education system that we as a society have grown accustomed to, and regard as being "the normal way" for children and adults to learn is about to see a major over-haul. The elementary, college and modern university schools systems were the product of the Industrial Revolution. As most people know, the age of Industrialization is over for North America as North America is evolving into a knowledge based economy. Prior to the Industrial Revolution most people learned from their families and would more than likely work for themselves as farmers, artisans or some other small business set-up. With the Industrial Age came the new entity known as the factory. Everything in society was based on it being congruent with the mass production way of doing things - essentially everything would become an assembly line, which education was no exception. School systems were set-up were there would be one teacher and several kids in the same class, all learning the same thing. And, for the Industrial Age this system proved effective. Those who fit the norm were promoted in the banal yet industrious environment. Those who though differently were pushed aside. Now, however, times have changed. Developing countries have taken the role of industrial provider in the modern era. Modern technology has made it possible for people to get educated without going to a bricks and mortar institution. Further, modern educators have recognized that the traditional school system only caters to a specific type of student. It is believed that many potentially capable students are not reaching their academic potential due to the current education system, they could contribute greatly to society if they had the proper system to back them up. It is my belief that traditional schools, at all levels, will start being eliminated. Students will learn from home via the internet. There will be custom systems made that will cater to each type of learner, with the goal of helping that person reach their full potential. People will be able to learn from the greatest minds in the world, from any where in the world and society will be better off because it. However, the transition from the traditional school system to the modern one will be difficult to accept by most. The main beneficiary of the new system will probably be males, since they have traditionally not excelled on average in the classroom environment - GPA scores have shown this trend for many years. I also feel that the Liberal strangle-hold on the education system will become attenuated since there will be no reason major issue of political correctness since everyone will be learning independently. Schools will get back to teaching actual knowledge again.

[ACP]

Have any of you thought about all the extravagant 'perks' given to administrators (and government officials)? Automobiles; gasoline; drivers; living expenses; meals; cell phones; expense accounts; per diems that cover everything else; FULL medical and dental after retirement; HUGE severance packages; etc., etc., etc.
Why couldn't school districts (and the government, for that matter) reduce their budgets by removing all these 'perks' and let ALL employees, fat-cats included, deduct their expenses annually from their taxes like everyone else?

If we think things are bad now, wait a few years to see the effects of continued cuts aimed at the classrooms: even larger class size; even less instructional money; and, even more ill-prepared students attending school and moving along from grade to grade without 'catching up' enough because there are other students who need MORE help moving into new schools. And then there is the simple fact of poor, inappropriate and improper social skills that are brought to school and interrupt learning...and parents/families who do little to support or reinforce the education their children receive at school.

All types of skills and learned behavior that students bring to school begin at birth and are brought to school each and every day.

[alan]

@MLK
You made some valid points, except they are largely irrelevant because the article is about HIGH SCHOOL education, not community colleges. The points people made you that are trying to refute were for high school education.

[Paul Curtis]

Wow ... at what point did teachers become public enemy number one? Amazing how we Americans have become so good a looking for someone to blame ... to be our scapegoat.

No one wants to pay taxes but we want all the services the government provides. We don't want "big government" to regulate our economy, then get outraged when we find toxins in our food or lead used to paint children's toys. We hate potholes, what clean air and water, an demand that police respond quickly to emergencies .... who's going to pay for that? Meanwhile, we busily spend our money on the latest flat screen TV.

In WWII, we were a nation that knew how to sacrifice for the common good. In the 80's and 90's we learned that we didn't have to sacrifice for the things we wanted ... we could put them on our credit card and let the rising value of our houses pay for all our toys. We demanded that our government do more for us and then cut tax revenue setting us up for massive debts when the economy slipped into a recession.

But, let's blame the teachers. It is their fault we are in this mess ... right?

For anyone talking about the "part time" nature of being a teacher ... I hope you have had a chance to walk in their shoes. I've had several jobs and I never worked harder than when I was a teacher. It is one of those jobs that is never done ... you can always do more (provide more student feedback, do more research, call more parents, spend more time on your lessons). Good teaches can typically put in more than 60 hour of week between class time, preparation, grading and professional development requirements. The job is emotionally draining (dealing with so many young, undeveloped personalities), mentally exhausting (preparing for many subjects and different types of learners), and often disheartening with all the obstacle to success. I was totally spent by the time June rolled around and needed time to recharge if I was going to be able to be as thoughtful and patient as I needed to be in order to help my students succeed.

Just because my salaried paycheck was equally divided over 12 months, doesn't mean I was paid for 12 months of work. Most districts just hold back some of the salary so that teachers have a steady income during the summer months.

The question is whether you believe a college educated professional who is charged with building the nation's economic capacity through the education of it's youth deserves to earn a wage that allows him/her to potentially own a home, get a new car every 10 years or so, can take the kids to the doctor when they are sick and then put them through college? If you answer no ... then you will ensure that no high qualified people enter into this profession and the U.S. will suffer the economic consequences. It won't happen immediately, but a slow degradation of our economic capacity over decades. If you answer "yes" and understand the long term payoff to a well educated student, then we must figure out ways for shared sacrifice to pay for the things that are important and stopped finding groups to blame for our collective problems.

Clearly, there are some real things to complain about ... the difficulty in getting rid of poor teachers and no real reward system for our best teachers comes to mind (and that many good teacher would totally agree with). But to blame them for our economic crisis demonstrates a lack understanding of fiscal issues and distracts us from the more fundamental problems of our economy (which, by the way, is dependent on a high quality education for ALL kids ... our economy cannot support an uneducated workforce ... the military doesn't have much use for them so the GI bill wont save us).

Let's get real, focus on the problems that matter, the solutions that work and recognize that we can't get something for nothing.

[riposter]

How about showing some real concern for the students? If you can't do the job with the money available, stand aside and allow others to do it. But then again, it's not the kid but the adult government employees that really matter.

[Sara]

All these ppl that are complaining...where do you work? What do YOU do? Teachers put in 8+ hours each day. Oftentimes they put $ out of their own pockets to cover supplies YOUR children use up. And I saw my teachers do this years and years ago...before all these budget cuts.

To all those complaining about how teachers are overpaid and we're being taxed too much...where are you sitting at? It's easy to say "no more taxes" and "lower their pay" when YOU'RE not being affected. For years we let pork barreling projects consume our hard earned money.

I'm not a teacher, nor am I in the education field (AND I don't have kids). I'm fortunate to have a decent job in a secure field. But all these cuts to education worries me.

I want a rise in middle class, not a rise in the poverty class. The more funding we cut to education now, the more funding we'll be providing to tomorrow's welfare system!

And I rather invest in the state's education than give my hard earned $ to someone who is on welfare.

[alan]

@Paul Curtis
I am also someone who has experienced teaching in a classroom, teaching is indeed one of the hardest jobs. But I disagree with some of your points, I don't think the public is against teachers, they are against the teacher union. You mentioned some of the problems, the union is a political organization that blocks reform and leads to inefficiency. It is a little bit shallow to ask the public for sacrifice and solutions, when teachers themselves cannot even get their own union to advocate for positive changes in education. If teachers did that, then the public would be more receptive, but instead the union wants to keep an antiquated system that lacks accountability.

I also disagree that people think teachers are cause of the economic mess, is a separate issue. At the local level, however, teachers do have something to do with increasing pension obligations. It is not the teachers fault, is the system. When a public union is so powerful, they can in essence choose their own bargaining counterparts. Politicians have no incentive to look after taxpayers once they leave office, hence this has put into question the role of public unions, especially one as large and powerful. Remember that school districts are the largest employers in most cities, including LAUSD, so their political weight is huge.

Lastly, I agree teachers should earn a wage that allows them to potentially own a home, take their kids to a doctor and put their kids through college. But that is a separate problem, it is not a "teacher only" problem. Many professionals are in the same boat. I know households of lawyers and doctorate engineers that cannot afford a home in LA. The solution is not raising the salaries of one particular kind of professional. Houses are still overvalued. Health care costs are way too high. These are problems that must be addressed separately.

[ricky]

My wife is about to retire from the public school system, I have been watching the system for many years. So what is the difference between today's system and that of forty years ago when the California school system was the best in the nation, well it's not the teachers or administrators. If you are a politician and support third world individuals in large numbers entering through the underground system. If you move all the mental and physically handicapped individuals into the classroom as normal students. If you continue to be required to divert large amounts of resources to special education programs. If you look at the republican white males as the devil. If you push out business from the state. You end up with a dysfunctional educational system as well as a dysfunctional state, that is what we have in California. It's not the schools teachers or administrators, it's the new population of student and politician that put us in this hole.