Yesterday, Sunroom Desk published 2008 STAR program allocations in California’s education budget. The Glendale Unified School District budget is not available online, or numbers for the district would have been included. Helpful staff at GUSD are getting the information and I’ll publish it when I have it.
Classroom time devoted to testing each year is taken away directly from instructional time. If California wants to cut the school year by 5 days, I propose it eliminates STAR testing, saving the state $62 million, and the Glendale Unified School District a significant amount as well.
The latest interim GUSD budget report, and earlier reports, are on the district’s website. Summary budget numbers appear on page 14, following the written report. The report shows a 2008 budget of $142 million, with $131 million (92%) going to wages and employee benefits.
This December 16, 2008 interim report is outdated because of expected cuts to the state education budget. A new report with projections based on information received through the end of January will be out within two months.
The district submits these reports to the LA County Office of Education, which forwards them to the state. The state uses them to evaluate districts’ financial health. I assume the state also uses them to assess compliance with state and federal mandates.
Our dwindling tax dollars are paying California to assess school districts’ financial health and compliance with mandates while the state proposes to reduce funds and shorten the school year. Cutting teachers’ already modest salaries and our students’ school year to deal with this fiscal crisis is unacceptable. Why not eliminate all the reporting?