Glendale News Press Community Forum March 20,2008
COMMUNITY COMMENTARY: Glendale Mayor Najarian vs School Board
City, schools must work together
By Linda Guzik
I am mad – really mad at the City Council’s reaction to Glendale
Unified School District Board President Greg Krikorian’s call for
greater cooperation between the board and council and his plea for
assistance with a utility rebate (`City, school board don’t agree on
utilities,’ Saturday).
For Councilman Dave Weaver to deflect our school’s budget issues on
the governor and say `your quarrel is not with us’ is the equivalent
of him turning a blind eye to what’s happening in our schools.
It’s true, the governor is the one proposing these devastating
education cuts, but to have a City Council member shrug it off and
effectively say, not our problem, is a true example of what is broken
in this city.
The financial reality facing our school system is everyone’s problem.
One of the main reasons people move to Glendale is because of its
school system.
It’s a vital part of the city’s infrastructure. If the school system
collapses, so does our city and every taxpayer’s property value. If
that were to happen, there’d be no Rick Carusos building
multibillion-dollar shopping venues here. So while you or many other
Glendale citizens may not have children in the public school system,
it’s imperative you do not turn a blind eye.
Sadly, our schools have been in a financial tailspin for decade. We
are not just facing a `few years that are expected to be fiscally
tight,’ as Jim Starbird, our city manager, would have you believe. The
fiscal tragedy that has befallen public schools in California has been
going on for three decades.
Before 1978 California had an enviable public school system and funded
education at a level of $600 per student over the national average.
Then Proposition 13 passed, capping local property taxes at 1%,
sending our public schools into a financial downward spiral from which
they’ve never recovered.
Proposition 98 was later passed in an effort to help schools
financially, but by 2001, California was funding education on a
per-pupil basis of $1,075 below the national average.
Year after year, this constant under-funding of education has eaten
away at school budgets. There is no more fat to cut and now millions
of California students are at risk. Teachers have become disheartened
because they are being asked to do more every year, with fewer
resources. The dropout rate has been rising, class sizes have bulged
to over-flowing capacities; the `extras’ like school librarians,
counselors and nurses have vanished, and enrichment programs are
either extinct or completely parent-funded and operated.
So here we are, California public schools have hit rock bottom. We
rank 50th in the U.S. for staff-to-student ratios and are 43rd in per
pupil funding, providing $1,900 less per student than the national
average.
And now our schools are faced with potentially losing $4.8 billion
more next year.
How did we get to this bleak place? And, more importantly, what are we
going to do about it? Our schools cannot continue to rely solely on
state and federal funding. We need to start thinking creatively.
Citizens and community and business leaders must join forces with City
Council members, school board members, the Glendale Community College
board and our teachers and administration to bring back the promise of
a better future for our children.
It is time to think outside of the box. We need to find ways to
protect our own. We need to start considering making changes to the
way we fund education, and yes, we need help from our city leaders.
Is a utility break such a crazy thing to ask for? Why does our
nonprofit public school system pay the same rates as say, the Rick
Carusos of the world? That seems incredibly unfair when you consider
how much more the public school system offers our city.
Maybe Krikorian’s request for a utility rebate seemed a little
unusual, or out of the ordinary, but quite frankly desperate times
require desperate measures. I implore our City Council members to
listen to our school board.
Don’t belittle them with remarks like, `When Greg [Krikorian] makes
these comments continually, we always scratch our heads and wonder
what are the facts he’s looking at.’ How sad that comment came from
our mayor and that he felt the need to embarrass Krikorian by
insinuating his facts were sketchy and fabricated.
We must put an end to the cantankerous relationship between our City
Council and school board. All the nonsense, the hurt feelings, the
stepping on each other’s toes must stop now or we will never realize
true success as a city.
It’s time to get rid of the `us versus them’ mentality and together
look to the future to find creative ways and new solutions that will
ensure our school children have the brighter tomorrow they deserve.
LINDA GUZIK is a Glendale resident.