Invest in PUSD Kids (IIPK) Wins Major Victory in Campaign for Public Education!

April 30th, 2013:

After a three-year grassroots organizing campaign led by Invest in PUSD Kids and supported by a broad spectrum of Pasadena residents, the Pasadena City Council Monday night voted to make public education one of the city government’s top priorities.

The City Council voted to add an eighth priority – called a “guiding principle” – to its General Plan acknowledging the crucial role that public education plays in promoting a strong city.  The City Council unanimously approved the following language: “Pasadena is committed to public education and a diverse educational system responsive to the broad needs of the community.”

“This is a big victory for public schools,” said Steve Cole, IIPK president.  “It puts in writing the importance of collaboration between the city government, the Pasadena Unified School District, and the other elements of our community, including businesses, nonprofit organizations, and civic groups.”

Founded in 2005, IIPK has been working to strengthen broad community support – including local government – for public education.  It has encouraged city officials and school officials to find ways to work together for the benefit of  PUSD students and parents.  IIPK took the lead in pushing for a “Community Schools” initiative and the School/City Work Plan that was adopted in February, which are now underway to align health care, recreation, and other resources from city government, the school district, and nonprofit groups to help improve the lives of students and their families.

“We’ve seen a significant change in the past few years in the willingness of city officials, including the city Council and the city manager, to support our public schools,” said Rob Filback, a PUSD parent and IIPK leader. “This didn’t happen by accident.”  IIPK and other groups have been meeting with our elected officials, the city manager, and other city staff to show them how important it is to Pasadena’s economy, housing market, and social fabric to have strong ties between the city government and the schools.

“Although the School Board is governed by its own board, by adopting this 8th Guiding Principle, the city government is saying that the condition of our public schools and the lives of Pasadena’s youth are a shared responsibility of the entire the community,” said Darla Dyson, a PUSD parent and IIPK leader.

Shortly after the City announced it was updating its General Plan, IIPK began a grassroots campaign to urge the City Council to add a separate “guiding principle” about the centrality of public education.  IIPK  recruited its members and allies – including groups like the League of Women Voters, Pasadena Educational Foundation, United Teachers of Pasadena, American Association of University Women, local religious congregations, and others – to attend public forums with city staff to discuss the General Plan and the importance of schools to issues such as transportation, jobs, the business climate, crime, land use, open space, and other issues.  IIPK’s coalition also met with City Council members, City Manager Michael Beck, Mercy Santoro, the Director of the Pasadena’s Department of Human Services and Recreation, and School Board members to foster support for adding language to the General Plan supporting the public schools.

“Putting these words into the General Plan is important,” said Steve Cole, “but equally important is translating those words into policies, resources, and actions that improve the lives of Pasadena kids and families, including families who don’t have kids in public schools.  The whole community benefits when we have a first-rate public education system.”

Pasadena joins Arcadia, Santa Ana, Anaheim, and a growing list of cities that have added public education to their General Plan.

On Monday, April 8th at 7 pm, The Pasadena City Council is scheduled to review staff’s recommendations on the General Plan and consider directing staff to begin preparation of an environmental impact report. The City Council will also review the staff recommended language of the 8th Guiding Principle which reads:

“Pasadena is committed to community planning that supports vibrant educational resources responsive to the broad needs of our diverse community. Quality public schools are a shared community responsibility.”

To bring balance with the other Guiding Principles, to improve the overall document, and to provide more detail around the 8th Guiding Principle, the IIPK Board worked on bringing back in some of the original language. We feel that with this additional language, the 8th Guiding Principle and the overall presentation of the Pasadena Guiding Principles will be stronger and more well received.

Our recommendation to City Council and Staff for the 8th Guiding Principle is as follows:

“Pasadena is committed to community planning that supports vibrant educational resources responsive to the broad needs of our diverse community. Recognizing the relationship between education and economic prosperity, a quality public school system is a fundamental element of this educational landscape and a shared community responsibility.”

We need your support for our 8th Guiding Principle language! Please email a note of support to your City Council member and please attend the City Council meeting on Monday, April 8th at 7 pm.

Mayor – Bill Bogaard, bbogaard@cityofpasadena.net

Vice Mayor – Margaret McAustin, mmcaustin@cityofpasadena.net

District 1 – Jacque Robinson, jacquerobinson@cityofpasadena.net

District 4 – Gene Masuda, gmasuda@cityofpasadena.net

District 5 – Victor Gordo, vgordo@cityofpasadena.net

District 6 - Steve Madison, smadison@cityofpasadena.net

District 7 – Terry Tornek, ttornek@cityofpasadena.net

WHAT: City Council Meeting - Staff Recommendations for Pasadena General Plan 

WHEN: Monday, April 8th – 7 pm

WHERE: Pasadena City Hall – City Council Chambers  100 North Garfield Avenue 

This Tuesday night, on February 26th, the PUSD school board will meet to decide which cuts to make to next year’s budget.  The school district is facing nearly $12 million in reduced revenue.  This shortfall is not a surprise, but PUSD’s board and top administrators have not prepared for this reality by seeking additional funds from within our community.  This is the reality despite the recent passage of Measure 30, a tax on the rich that will direct more funding to local schools.

On Tuesday, PUSD’s top administrators will recommend that the school board approve issuing layoff notices to 160 staff members.  This will be directed at teachers, nurses, custodians, counselors and librarians, the positions which most directly impact our children and the school district’s ability to maintain basic functions.  The K-3 class size will increase to 30 and above, while the grade 4 and above size is already untenable.  The layoffs will undermine the ability of the remaining staff to perform and threaten the steady progress that PUSD has made in recent years.

The root of the problem is not with local school boards.  Starting about a decade ago, Wall Street banks and other financial services firms crashed the nation’s economy with their predatory and abusive practices.  California was particularly hard hit, enduring large scale unemployment and dramatically declining housing values.  The plummeting economy reduced state government revenues. Sacramento lawmakers cut budgets, including funding for local public schools.

In November, voters approved Measure 30 to raise taxes and fund public schools. But the additional revenue doesn’t make up for the severe cuts from Sacramento to local school districts over the past five years. Across the state, local school districts have had to slash already lean programs.  They’ve  cut bone, not fat.  The axe has fallen on teachers, librarians, counselors, and coaches.  School districts have cut arts, music, sports, and other programs.

But even with Measure 30, California still ranks among the bottom five in terms of states’ per-student funding for public education.  As a result, local school districts like PUSD face a crushing budget shortfall.

The question is not whether we will have a reduced budget, but whether PUSD’s leadership has the proper mindset to establish clear priorities and, as much as possible, keep the cuts away from the classroom.

In 2010, a majority of voters in the PUSD area supported Measure CC, a parcel tax to increase funds for local schools.  But it failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote required by state law.  To remedy this, Invest in PUSD Kids supports changing the state law to require only a 55% vote to adopt local parcel taxes.

In the meantime, however, we can’t just throw up our hands. Nor can we expect parents in local schools to fend for themselves by holding bake sales and organizing silent auctions. These are good morale-boosters, but they never raise enough money to fill the huge gap caused by the state’s failure to adequately fund public schools.

So, we need our local political, business and civic leaders to be more creative. We are pleased that the City of Pasadena and PUSD have begun working more closely together and last week approved a City/Schools partnership plan that Invest in PUSD Kids has been pushing for over the past six years.

But we need the wider community to make our public schools a priority. It is past time for our community to adopt creative solutions like these below and direct the funds to our public schools:

• Pasadena and Sierra Madre adopt a nominal sales tax
• Increase the hotel surtax
• Tournament of Roses can add a small surcharge to Rose Bowl tickets
• County Supervisor Mike Antonovich can use his millions in discretionary funds to help PUSD which is in his district.

In the immediate term, however, it is up to the PUSD board to figure out how to spend its inadequate budget most effectively.  In October of this school year, the board of education voted  4 to 2 to give a $19,000 pay raise to the Chief Financial Officer, John Papallardo.  In fact, car allowances alone for the top six administrators total $25,200, a pittance perhaps, but enough to partially fund a janitor or a much needed teacher aid.

We believe that our public servants should be adequately compensated, but we also believe that the school board must recognize that it must establish priorities that put children first.

Please join us on Tuesday evening, or send an email to the PUSD Board to urge them to what exactly is their plan to limit the cuts from impacting the classroom and continue PUSDs upward trend in academic performance.

Here are the email addresses of the school board members:

Renatta Cooper – cooper.renatta@pusd.us

Ed Honowitz – honowitz.edward@pusd.us

Kim Kenne – kenne.kimberley@pusd.us

Ramon Miramontes – miramontes.ramon@pusd.us

Scott Phelps – phelps.scott@pusd.us

Elizabeth Pomeroy – pomeroy.elizabeth@pusd.us

Tom Selinske – selinske.thomas@pusd.us

Our community’s future depends on their creativity and leadership. Make your voices heard.