Two of the brightest young lights in the San Diego political sky -- Republican Andrew Lund and Democrat Jared Quient -- are weighing in every other week on hot topics.
This week's topic: San Diego city schools are struggling with a $140 million budget gap. What should be done to close it?
-- Ed.
Lund's Punch: As the San Diego Unified School District tries to make reductions in its budget and in school days, it is still not addressing their project labor agreement problem. From what was recently presented to the public, there will be a $134.6 million deficit, with more deficits to follow. This is up from the $80 million shortfall a few months ago.
Another point of the SDUSD presentation is the part where it indicates that it will increase health and welfare benefits by almost 10 percent this year alone. I am not sure why it is doing this, but it seems like a bad idea when the name of the game is cutting costs. While there may not be a whole lot of money to construct and repair infrastructure, the district should be thinking about how to competitively bid its contacts to save every dollar it can.
Quient's Punch: In the past three years, Sacramento has cut annual funding for San Diego city schools by more than $300 million -- nearly a quarter of the district’s operating budget. This has contributed to a $140 million budget gap, which will take sacrifice and commitment to close.
Politics
Passing Proposition J -- a local measure on the ballot this November -- is a vital step on SDUSD’s road to recovery.
Proposition J will provide $50 million a year for five years to help offset those cuts, prevent math- and science-teacher layoffs, and prevent severe cuts in academic programs. The money Proposition J provides cannot be taken away and can only be used to relieve classroom overcrowding, prevent teacher layoffs and support classroom technology. The funds will come from a temporary $98 parcel tax on single-family homes that exempts low-income seniors -- a small price to pay to help save our schools. It is certainly not the cure-all, but it’s a strong start.
Lund's Counterpunch: It is true that Sacramento is cutting funding. This is because we are in tough economic times and money is tight. The problem is that even before we had tough times, SDUSD had an unsustainable budget.
There is no such thing as a temporary tax increase. Even in five years, it could easily be reauthorized or continued. SDUSD clearly has a spending problem.
Quient's Counterpunch: The PLA is not the problem. As the great Sam Seaborn said, "Education is the silver bullet. Education is everything. We don't need little changes, we need gigantic, monumental changes. Schools should be palaces. The competition for the best teachers should be fierce; they should be making six figure salaries."
We have miles to go, but passing Prop J will help put us on the right track.
Jared Quient is the director of project development at AMSOLAR, a local solar energy company that develops innovative solar solutions for schools. He is also the treasurer of the San Diego County Young Democrats and is on the board of the San Diego League of Conservation Voters.
Andrew Lund is the president of the San Diego Young Republicans
