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GLORIA PENNER (SD Week Host): This week marked the end of summer for many
of San Diego's school children, and despite a pep talk earlier this week to students
around the country from President Obama, many kids in California face crowded classrooms
and cuts in programs due to the state's budget crisis.
KPBS reporter Joanne Faryon spoke to California's Superintendent
of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell about the big picture for education funding in California.
JACK O'CONNELL (CA Superintendent of Education): Well this is the worst year that I've seen.
It's cumulative.
It's not just a one-year reduction.
This has been on top of several years now
of schools not getting as much funding as they should.
We haven't made it the top priority in Sacramento, like I would like to see it made,
and we simply have not been investing in the future.
When you look at dollars spent per student on a per capita basis compared
to the other fifty states we an embarrassingly low 47th.
We're not making the type of investment in the future we need to do if we're going
to remain economically strong, if we're going to continue to remain, for our country,
an economic giant it has to come from California.
The cutbacks in public education are real, they're seen, they're dramatic, they're felt.
We're seeing larger class sizes; we're seeing more teachers have been laid off,
fewer classes in the arts and music...
technical education.
More fees being imposed for bus rides, for athletics.
Fewer nurses, counselors, librarians.
And I just wonder, I'm afraid, what's this going to do to drop out rate?
What's this going to do for our graduation rate - to make sure our students are in school,
on task, preparing for their future.
The citizens understand education's the future, education's the great equalizer.
Education is key to California's economic recovery,
and key to California having a well skilled, well-educated,
analytical, problem-solving workforce.
PENNER: So here we have the school superintendent basically saying education is key
to California's economic recovery, and yet we're near the bottom in spending in education.
Why this disconnect John?
JOHN WARREN (SD Voice and Viewpoint): Well this disconnect exists because we have a governor
who made some decisions in terms of balancing a budget that he would take monies from education,
we had efforts to take the lottery funds that we were marked for education,
we now have a $6.1 billion current deficit in terms of going into the school year,
and so obviously, the people who agree with the superintendent in terms
of education being important are not the people who are making the budgetary decisions.
And that's where the problem is, because there's a limit to how much the superintendent
or the state or the counties can do, as opposed to the governor's line item veto
where he just takes money wherever he decides to.
PENNER: And what power do the local school districts have on making a decision
on where the dollars go, for example, what impacts do we see locally from fewer dollars?
DAVID OGUL (SD Union-Tribune): Well, the local school boards have a great impact.
In some districts, they've decided to lay off teachers, in others,
including San Diego Unified there were no layoffs,
even though there has been $250 million in cuts for the past 18 months.
The one thing that I would like to say about education in California, there's this doom
and gloom, first of all we are all dealing with budget cuts.
We are dealing with them at my work,
John is dealing with them I'm sure you're dealing with them at KPBS.
So, a lot of people who are watching this show are probably sitting at home saying "Oh welcome
to the real world, Mr. Superintendent" there are a lot of things also
that are going right with public education.
There is all this doom and gloom that people, I hear it all the time from people
who call our desk complaining about public education.
Well the drop-out rate in California has improved.
Now you only have one in ten students in San Diego Unified,
for example, that are dropping out.
Pretty good.
California's Standard's Testing, which were just released,
results from this past springs' have improved tremendously.
San Diego Unified in the summer had a boot camp for AP and IB classes in schools aimed
at minority and lower income students.
PENNER: So you're sounding hopeful.
OGUL: I think there is a lot of hope.
PENNER: Do you agree with David?
WARREN: Oh yes.
I mean history shows that we've made progress in public education, in spite of the numbers,
we've always had issues in terms of class size being overcrowded, we made a decision
about a decade ago that we would do something to address class sizes from say first
through the fourth or fifth grade, and then when you get up to secondary, middle school,
secondary on, we have the problem we've always had, so this is not new.
PENNER: Tell that to Terry Grier, who just resigned as superintendent
of schools for San Diego Unified.
I mean, why is he leaving?
WARREN: I think Terry's leaving because he's got a better world in Texas,
he doesn't have the budget problems, he's got more income, he's got more love,
he's got a board that wants him, and when you look at his age
and where he is he's saying "Why should I stay here?"
Why not go and explore the possibilities?
After all, he's a professional superintendent, he's not a monk or saint who came here
with a pre-ordained heavenly commission to stay through all of our problems.
PENNER: OK, very briefly, you've been covering for a very long time in education,
how bad for San Diego Unified that the superintendent is leaving?
OGUL: It's not horrible.
You know, he has instituted a lot of changes that if we continue
with these changes, holds some promise.
But it's not just Terry Grier, Carl Cohn, Dr. Cohn, he instituted some wonderful changes also.
And Allan Bersin, I know a lot of people don't like to hear that name,
but he started getting us onto a track, the right track.
PENNER: OK, well I want to thank you very much.
David Ogul, John Warren.